APUSH All Units AP Exam Review

UNIT 1- 1491-1607

Unit 1 1.2- Native American Societies BEFORE 1492

• Pre-European arrival, Natives were divided into diverse groups based on their location 

  • Fishing, roaming as nomads, farmers, city empires

• Central and South America- 3 major civilizations

  • Aztecs- Irrigation systems, human sacrifices, written language 

  • Maya- irrigation, stone temples for ru\lers they thought were descended from the gods

  • Inca- Andes Mountains, used mountain valleys and irrigation systems to keep healthy crops like potatoes

• Maize was a common crop amongst all of these major civilizations 

  • Important because it spread north and promoted settling of people and economic development

• More about north- Diversity amongst Natives 

  • Southwest- Pueblo

    • New Mexico and Arizona area

    • Stayed in 1 place 

    • Build adobe and masonry homes, some in cliffsides 

    • Very organized, craft shops, organized religions

  • Great Basin+plains

    • Nomadic people (hunter-gatherer)

    • Ute people were an example

  • Pacific Northwest

    • Fishing villages, elk

    • Cedar trees were used to make large plankhouses 

    • Chinook people

    • Chumash farther south, hunter-gatherers but stayed in 1 location

• Mississippi River valley

  • Societies could be more developed because they didn’t have to more around- River provided fertile land for farming

    • Hopewell people- traded with people a lot

    • Cahokia- big trade networks, biggest group in the area

• Northeast- Iroquois

  • Grew crops like maize, squash, beans 

  • Also built longhouses

Unit 1 1.3- European Exploration in the Americas 

• Big question- Why Europeans wanted to explore Americas and what happened as a result 

• Reasons for Exploration

  • Population increase- rebound after Black Plague 

  • Political unification in many European states- monarchs arose

  • Wealthy upper class wanted luxury goods from Asia- main reason

• Land-based trade routes with Asia were mainly controlled by Muslims, so Europeans weren’t able to 

  • This made them want a water route 

• Portugal is the first country to try to find a water route 

  • Prince Henry the Navigator went around Africa and made a trading post empire along its edge

  • Made use of caravels, trading ships 

• Spain saw how profitable trade was for Portugal, wanted economic prosperity too

  • Additional motive- spread Christianity 

• Christopher Columbus came to them seeking a sponsorship to sail West to reach Asia, Isabel and Ferdinand agreed to

• 1492- Columbus reaches what he thinks is East Indies, but is actually San Salvador in the Caribbean 

• The “Indians” (as Columbus called them, thinking he was in East Indies) were helpful to the crew

• Columbus went back and word spread that there were riches to be had (he saw the Natives wearing gold)

Unit 1 1.4- The Columbian Exchange, Spanish Exploration, and Conquest 

• Columbian Exchange: the transfer of food, animals, people, diseases, minerals, and ideas between Africa, Europe, and the Americas

  • Transformed societies and economies of all areas involved 

• Disease had a really big impact

  • Ex) Hernan Cortes was the Spanish conquistador who conquered Aztecs even though he and his forces were entirely outnumbered- disease was the main culprit of killing them, especially smallpox 

  • Americas had been isolated from the germs before, so they had no immunity 

• Incas and Mayans were also devastated by disease

• Food was also exchanged 

  • Americas to Europe- Maize, tomatoes, cacao, tobacco

  • Europe/Africa to Americas- Rice, wheat, soybeans, rye, oats, lemons, oranges

• Animals 

  • Europe/Africa to Americas- Pigs, horses, cattle, chickens 

    • Horses changed farming and warfare for Natives 

• Minerals 

  • Gold + silver- Incan and Aztec gold and silver was stolen after they were conquered- sent back to homeland and spain's prosperity exploded

  • However, only really impacted upper class/ nobles since with money gold and silver prices rose so peasants stayed poor

  • This wealth was a big reason why they returned to Americas

• Columbian exchange had a big impact on Europe

  • 1500s (early) unprecedented economic growth impacted society 

  • Prior to this, economic system was Feudalism: peasants lived and worked on the land of a noble in exchange for armed protection

  • Now, replaced by form of capitalism: free exchange between property owners

• People

  • Christopher Columbus enslaved some Natives and took them back to Spain (minor amount)

  • African Americans captured and sold on coast moved to Americas with Middle Passage 

• Spanish were the first to start Columbian Exchange, but other European countries soon follow

• Spanish financed this with government money- operated under mercantilism

• Mercantilism: dependent on heavy government intervention

• In contrast other countries later on explored with joint- stock companies (more private)

Unit 1 1.5- Labor, Slavery, and Caste in Spanish America

• Labor Systems and societal reconstruction Europeans imposed upon Americans

• African Slave Trade

• ORIGINALLY:

  • Usually those sold into slavery were prisoners of war or for payment of someone who had died

  • Slaves had rights and it wasn’t usually permanent 

• During Columbian Exchange:

  • Forts were established along coast, goods were traded for people 

  • Usually one group of Africans would conquer another, and trade away those they conquered for guns so they would be even more powerful 

  • Increased intensity of the raids 

• Europeans adopted thought processes to justify their behavior

  • Noah’s son Ham found his father asleep naked and instead of helping him, he mocked him. God said his son Canaan would be cursed- he would be a servant for all of his days 

  • They decided to assume Africans were descended from Canaan

• Reason why so many Africans were needed- Spanish had a labor problem in new world and Natives did not make good slaves

  • Encomienda System- introduced in Spanish settlements, Spanish Encomenderos were granted a portion of land and were instructed to enslave all the Natives on the land as well as Christianize them 

  • Didn’t work out because the Natives kept dying from diseases and knew the lands better so they could escape easily

  • Solution was importing African Americans, who knew the land even less than the Spaniards and already had immunity to diseases

• Caste System 

  • Hierarchy of people imposed by Spaniards

  • Established because Spanish government needed to impose taxes- those on the bottom were taxed more so they needed to make a hierarchy to find who was lowest

  • Top: Peninsulares- Spanish and born in Spain

  • Next: criollos- Spanish but born in America

  • Mestizos- Spanish and Native American ancestry 

  • Mulattoes- Spanish and African ancestry

  • Africans 

  • Bottom: Native Americans

Unit 1 1.6- Cultural Interactions Between Europeans, Native Americans, and Africans 

• How culture was shaped between Europeans, Natives, and Africans in Americas

• Spanish Hegemony continues

• Hegemony: domination of another area or group of people

• After 1573 Spanish manner of expansion changed- decided to send missionaries to convert Natives to Christianity (Mission System) 

• Comparison of beliefs

  • Natives were pantheists/animists (natural world filled with spirits), while Spanish believed in Catholic singular deity (God)

  • Land use- Natives believed in spiritual nature of land, Spanish saw it as means to use

  • Natives stayed in kinship networks of up to 70 people, Spanish focused on nuclear family 

• Some ideas they did exchange if they found them helpful

  • Natives adopted European tools they found useful for farming and hunting

  • Used horses and guns of warfare

  • Europeans wanted trading rights for fur (married native women to gain them)

• Sometimes Spanish priests efforts worked, but usually had some kind of confliction

  • Pueblo adopted Christianity, but worshipped God along with their other deities

  • Priests tried to force them into rejecting their other Gods- some continued worshipping them in secret, others became violent 

  • Ex.) the Pueblo Revolt 

    • Decided the Spanish invaders and their Christ were causing them problems, burned churches down and attacked Spanish

    • Later the Spanish conquered the Pueblo people 

• News reached Spain and King Charles brought together priests and philosophers to get their input on the morality of the situation 

  • Many argued that Natives were inferior and conquering them brought them the riches of European society which was good for them

  • Some sided with the Natives and their dignity 

    • Main person was Bartolomé De Las Casas

    • He argues that if Spain kept brutalizing and killing them, their souls would be lost to God, and those who DID survive would hate Christianity 

    • However, he was fine with using Africans for labor instead- it was his suggestion

UNIT 2- 1607-1754

Unit 2 2.2- European Colonization in the Americas

• Now, European colonialism expands to other countries

• 1524- French interest in Americas emerges

  • Mainly, they wanted a water route to access to trade in Asia, not actually being in America

  • When they couldn’t find a water route they decided to explore America 

    • Samuel De Champlain set up first settlement- Quebec

  • French had more interest in trade than conquest, especially in fur trade 

  • Mostly made trading settlements throughout North America

  • Some married Native women to have better access to trade networks

  • Example- French with Ojibwe natives 

    • Natives were skilled with preparing beaver fur

    • Europeans introduced iron cookware and farm tools and manufactured cloth

• Dutch sent Henry Hudson, also looking to find a water-based path to Asia

  • Went up Hudson River and claimed land, by 1624 the area became the colony New Amsterdam

  • Dutch had mainly economic goals- became trade hub

  • Dutch were Protestant but didn’t care to convert Natives 

• British efforts to colonize 

  • Main goal was economics

  • Financially declining because of wars with France and conquest of Ireland-  nobles wealth decreased

  • Enclosure movement has hurt the lower class too- it took land from everyone and sold it to private parties

  • Both nobles and peasants wanted more economic opportunities in Americas, but in addition to that, peasants also wanted more land available to them

  • Some wanted religious freedom as well

  • Set out as family groups

  • Settlers slowly encroached on natives lands- while Spaniards subjugated (brought under their control) the natives, English expelled them

Unit 2 2.3- The Regions of the British Colonies

• Big question- How and why did the British colonies develop into very different societies?

• Established first is the Chesapeake colonies 

  • First one- Jamestown in 1607 (VA)

  • Financed by Joint-Stock Company- investors pooled their money to share the financial risk

  • Since the purpose was economic (company owners wanted economic profit), colonizers spent their time digging for gold and silver or building a military fort for keeping what they found safe

  • Famine and disease killed many of them, so desperate they resorted to cannibalism 

  • 1612- cultivation of tobacco took hold and saved them

  • Indentured servants were people who couldn’t afford passage to Americas so they pledged to work for someone for 7 years to pay off settlement fees, primary workforce early on

  • Conflict arose because European colonizers needed more land to plant tobacco, but Natives didn’t want encroachment on their land- led to violent attacks 

  • Colonists’ governor William Berkeley decided the cause wasn’t worth his effort to step in- led to Bacon’s Rebellion

    • Led other poor farmers and indentured servants on attack on Natives, then destroyed plantations owned by Berkeley

    • Quickly squashed but the rebellion had great consequences- elite planters saw big amounts of indentured servants working for them and feared further uprisings- so they switched to using enslaved Africans 

• Next- Further north, New England colonies

  • Settled by Pilgrims in 1620

  • Influx of puritan settlers 

    • Protestants upset with Church of England 

  • The Pilgrims main reason for coming to America wasn’t actually religious freedom- many first went to Holland, which has religious freedom

  • As farmers they had difficulty making money in the urban Holland, so it was for better money-making opportunities that they came to America 

  • Migrated with family generally- came to create family economies as farmers 

  • Fever and disease killed half of them, but eventually got settled and based around agriculture and commerce

• Then British West Indies and the Southern Atlantic Coast 

  • 1620s first permanent colonies in Caribbean

  • Area was warm for most of the year so long growing seasons, caused tobacco to become primary cash crop grown in the area 

  • By 1630s this transitioned to sugarcane, even more profitable 

  • Very labor intensive to harvest, so demand for African labor spiked

  • Slave codes were implemented by white elites to keep Africans in check

    • Defined enslaved people as chattel (property)

• Middle Colonies (NY PA and NJ)

  • Developed export economy because of rivers and streams 

  • Diverse population that became unequal over time 

  • Hierarchy established: 

    • Urban merchants 

    • Artisans and shopkeepers

    • Unskilled laborers, orphans, widows, unemployed

    • Enslaved Africans 

  • Pennsylvania was established by Quaker William Penn

    • Religious freedom for all

    • Negotiated with Natives to expand rather than just taking it 

• One thing all areas held in common was unusually democratic governments that developed since they were so far away from British gov 

  • VA- House of Burgesses- could levy taxes and pass laws

  • New England- Mayflower Compact- organized gov on model of self- governing church congregation, had town meetings 

  • Middle and Southern colonies also had representative bodies, dominated by elite in the colonies

Unit 2 2.4- Trans-Atlantic Trade

• Causes and effects of trans Atlantic trade over time 

• Trade was done by Triangular Trade path

  • Ex. Path- Merchant ships from New England brought rum to Africa for enslaved Africans, which they then brought to West Indies for sugarcane- then sugarcane was traded in New England for rum

    • Middle Passage was the term for the path of the journey from Africa to West Indies, enslaved Africans endured horrid conditions 

    • Slave Trade Act (1788)- limited number of enslaved people that could be put in ship (famous diagram of Africans in ship was the BETTER version from previous conditions)

• Economic principle that drove it- Mercantilism

  • Dominant economic system in Europe at the time 

  • Assumes there is a fixed amount of wealth in the world (measured in gold and silver)- goal was to keep a good balance of trade and have more exports than imports (so more money is coming in that going out)

  • Establishment of colonies was another key feature- gave them access to raw materials and colonies could become markets for manufactured goods

  • Navigation Acts- required merchants to engage in trade with ONLY English ships

    • Valuable trade items were required to go only to British ports (where they were taxed)

• Trans Atlantic trade generated massive wealth for elites and transformed seaports in America into urban centers 

  • Caused Consumer Revolution in North America- rich families bought more goods, changed societal hierarchy 

    • Societal status was more tied to economic success rather than lineage 

Unit 2 2.5- Interactions Between American Indians and Europeans 

• Big question- How and why did interactions between American Indians and various European nations change over time?

• Spain

  • Encountered huge civilizations like Aztecs and Incas, conquered them, and forced the people under enslaved labor w/ encomienda 

  • Spanish and French were interested in marrying Natives for strategic trade reasons 

  • Subjugated Natives they encountered 

• British/English

  • Settled in places without large empires, so no large labor force available 

  • Many British colonists moved in family groups so they weren’t interested in marrying Natives 

  • Had a peaceful coexistence with Natives at first, but it gradually faded as colonizers expanded

  • Forced out Natives they encountered

• Metacom’s War/King Phillip’s War (1675)

  • Metacom was leader of Wampanoag chief

  • He saw more British encroached, more it would destroy native way of life

  • He allied with other Indian groups and led attack on English

  • Retaliation- British and Mohawk Indians responded by killing Metacom and the resistance ended 

• French 

  • Far less invasive 

  • Saw Natives as trade partners and military allies (NOT as equals though) 

  • Often married Natives to get trading rights 

  • Didn’t settle into societies, but established fur trade posts

  • Even sided with some native groups to fight others 

Unit 2 2.6- Slavery in the British Colonies

• Big question- How did slavery shape the societies in which it flourished?

• All of the British colonies participated in  and benefitted from the slave trade

• Causes of explosion of slave trade 

  • Inc. demand for colonial agricultural goods 

  • Shortage of indentured servants to do the labor 

    • Bacon’s Rebellion caused shift to lean more heavily of African labor than indentured servants

• New England 

  • Smaller farms, fewer enslaved Africans 

• Middle Colonies 

  • Agriculture and household servants 

  • Major port cities use them as seamen and blacksmiths 

• Chesapeake and Southern colonies

  • More enslaved people for plantation farming (plantation system) 

• British West Indies 

  • Had most slave labor 

• Further south, more slave labor

• Chattel slavery- race-based slavery 

  • Slaves were on same level as a farm tool or domesticated animal in value 

• British West Indies slave practices influenced slave practices other areas since they had the most slaves, ESPECIALLY influences Southern colonies

  • Most notable- Slave Laws- some were:

    • Legally defined African laborers as chattel

    • Slavery was an institution passed from 1 generation to the next

    • Laws became increasingly harsher

    • plantation owners could kill enslaved laborers if they defied authority 

    • No black person could leave plantation without permission or have any weapons 

    • Any interracial relations were illegal

• Slave Resistance- Africans fought back 

  • Covert rebellion- They would secretly practice cultural customs from homeland, mainland beliefs, speak native languages, as well as break tools and damage crops 

  • Overt rebellion- physically fighting back with violence 

    • Stono Rebellion in SC in 1739

      • Small group of enslaved men stole weapons from a store, killed the white store owners, and marched along Stono River gaining African support, burning plantations, and killing more white people

      • White militia ended rebellion

      • Directly challenged narrative- slave owners believed they were “bringing slaves under their care” and being benevolent 

Unit 2 2.7- Colonial Society and Culture

• Big question- How and why did movement of people and ideas across the Atlantic contribute to the development of American culture?

• Enlightenment- movement of Europe that emphasized rational thinking over traditional religious revelation 

  • John Locke was a major Enlightenment thinker who contributed to ideas like natural rights 

• Some ideas born from this movement

  • Natural Rights: People had rights like life liberty and property given to them by God rather than government 

  • Social contract- power to govern was in the hands of the people, who have the power to government as long as government protected their natural rights 

  • Government in 3 branches that could check each other 

• Such emphasis on scientific inquiry and decreased emphasis on religious revelation caused a rebound and religious revival

  • Great Awakening- religious leaders known as New Light Clergy, inspired by German Pietism which emphasized heart over head in spiritual matters 

  • Created intense Christian enthusiasm throughout colonies 

  • 2 main men to know 

    • Jonathan Edwards: 

      • He was more concerned with joy of God and joy of other human beings than any other early preachers 

    • George Whitefield

      • Traveled to many colonies to preach, very unorthodox 

  • New Light preachers tended to emphasize democratic tendencies in Bible, made sure common people knew God cared about them regardless of economic status 

  • Related to how colonies started making their own governments with Britain so far away and lacking control 

• SUMMARY-

  •  Enlightenment thinkers have colonists ideas about democratic society, liberty, and rights

  • Great Awakening created nationwide movement that bound Americans together and taught them to resist threats to democracy 

• Colonies experienced Anglicanization in regards to their society development but also began to resist Britain 

  • Ex. impressment of sailors

    • Men were taken and forced to serve in British navy- especially at risk if they lived in seaport cities 

• 1747- Britain was fighting King George’s War and took inc number of men, colonists were getting upset and noticing Britain violating their natural rights 

• Started rebelling against Britain

UNIT 3- 1754-1800

Unit 3 3.2- The French and Indian War (Seven Years’ War)

• Big Idea: Explain causes and effects of the French and Indian War      

• Two sides- French+Indians vs British

• The war was actually a smaller conflict in a more global conflict called the Seven Years’ War between France and Britain

• Causes

  • British American colonists encroached more and more into French land claims in the Ohio River Valley

    • George Washington was a Virginian officer 

  • 1754- French took control of British post Fort Duquesne (“do-cane”)- Washington gained it back, then French took it back again

  • Meanwhile, Albany Convention was happening- group of British colony delegates  were meeting to discuss better frontier defense

    • Invited Iroquois Confederacy so they could ally with them, but didn’t involve them in conversations 

    • At the Congress, Benjamin Franklin brought up his Albany Plan of Union- ultimately rejected (required heavy taxation) but laid group for future revolutionary council

• As Seven Years War increased, British hard policies that colonists did not like 

  • Impressment of American men 

  • Quartering troops in American homes (threatened with violence if they refused)

• Peace of Paris ended the Seven Years War in 1763 (King George was worried about how much it was costing him) 

  • Terms:

  • Spain ceded Florida to British

  • French removed from North America, Spanish given control of their land claims west of Mississippi

  • Land East of Mississippi (including Ohio River valley) given to British

• Effects 

  • American colonists continued to push westward bc of the new land gains

    • Made conflicts with Natives worse

    • Native Ottawa leader Pontiac led raids against them

    • British Parliament made Proclamation Line of 1763 to try to keep colonists safe from attacks, forbade colonists from going west of Appalachian Mountains and taking land in the Ohio River Valley 

      • Colonists felt like they deserved the land because they just fought for it so they were entitled to it

  • The war was VERY expensive for the British- as a result they taxed the colonies since the French and Indian war had been fought for them- but colonists were very upset by it 

Unit 3 3.3- Taxation Without Representation

• Made sense to British- colonists were British subjects and the war got them land gains, so it made sense to tax them 

• American colonists disagreed

  • Practically Britain wasn’t actively ruling over the colonies- operated under salutary neglect 

    • They still controlled the colonies politically, but day-to-day operations were left to the colonies 

  • Britain passed Navigation Acts to restrict colonies’ trade to be with Britain only, but colonists didn’t really listen- large scale smuggling and illegal trade- Britain didn’t enforce Navigation Acts strongly enough for colonists to fear consequences 

  • For a long time colonies felt more in control of their own areas without Britain being actively involved 

• British Prime Minister George Grenville made a 3 pronged plan 

  • Stricter enforcement of current laws like Navigation Acts

  • Extent wartime provisions into peacetime 

  • Quartering Act of 1765- British soldiers kept stationed in colonies and colonists had to provide housing and food 

• Sugar Act- tax on coffee, wine, molasses other luxury items 

• Stamp act 1765- tax on paper products like legal documents, newspapers, etc

• Currency Act- Colonists couldn’t print their own paper currency 

  • Meant that British were demanding more money, but under a restricted money supply

• Colonists started debating if it was just and right for Parliament to be taxing them so much when they didn’t have any representation in Parliament 

  • “No taxation without representation”

  • Their thinking stemmed from the Enlightenment thinkers’ ideas, like that they had natural rights that Parliament was violating and that they had a social contract with Britain

  • British officials argued they WERE represented in Parliament, but it was virtual representation

    • They thought Members of Parliament represented ideas of classes of people, just not necessarily locations- but colonists thought only people who could really represent their interests was someone from the colony 

• In colonies, some groups started to form to express discontent 

  • Sons of Liberty 

  • Daughters of Liberty

• Their complaints stemmed from all of the acts but especially the Stamp Act

  • This more organized resistance led to the Stamp Act Congress (1765)

  • Goal was to petition Parliament to repeal Stamp Act because taxation without representation wa tyranny

  • HOWEVER, they were still loyal subjects of the King- Revolution was NOT yet being considered- they simply wanted the rights they were owed as British citizens 

• Result- Parliament repealed Sugar and Stamp act in 1766

  • However, also passed Declaratory Act, which said Parliament could pass any law it wanted to 

• 1767- Townshend Acts- taxed imported goods like paper, paint, lead, tea 

  • Result- colonists started boycotting the goods 

  • United colonists from all classes

• Boston Massacre (1770) was the final event that exploded tensions 

  • A group of boys were harassing British soldiers- throwing rocks and snowballs at them

  • Someone shot into the crowd-unclear which side- and British soldiers fired into the crowd

  • Results- 11 colonists shot, 4 dead

  • Colonists were enraged by the event 

  • John Adams defended the soldiers on trial 

• Boston Tea Party (1773)

  • Background- Parliament passed Tea Act earlier in the year which gave full rights to the British East India Company to ship tea to the colonists 

  • Colonists were upset because they had been getting smuggled Dutch tea

  • As a result, members of the Sons of Liberty disguised themselves as Natives and snuck into ships at night, then dumped 45 tons of tea into the Boston Harbor

• Response- Parliament passed Intolerable Acts (1774)

  • Coercive Act- Closed Boston Harbor until all the tea was paid for 

  • Another Quartering Act

Unit 3 3.4- Philosophical Foundations of the American Revolution

• Big Question- How and why did colonial attitudes about government change in the years right before the American Revolution?

• First Continental Congress (1774)- delegates met to discuss what to do about Parliament’s increasing legislative injustice 

  • All agreed colonies needed to resist further violations of their liberty 

  • Revolution was not yet suggested

  • Hoped to reach an agreement still

• Response- Parliament refused to negotiate, saying it was their rightful authority to continue taxing the colonies (discussed more later)

• WHY did the colonists think this way though? Where were the ideas from?

  • From the Enlightenment

• Important People 

  • John Locke gave them ideas like

    •  the governing body only has power through the consent of the governed (power is in the hands of the people) 

    • humans had natural rights just by living- since they were not rights created by the government, the government could not take them away (life liberty property) 

    • Self rule: elected representatives should be the ones governing, not a lineage

  • Jean-Jacques Rousseau

    • Social contract existed between the government and those governed, people gave up some of their power so long as the government protected their natural rights

    • If the government no longer protected their natural rights, such laws infringing on their rights could be null and void 

  • Montesquieu 

    • A republican form of government was the best way to preserve people’s liberty 

    • Government should be split into an executive, judicial, and legislative branch, all of which exist under checks and balances 

• Up to 1774 delegates at the Continental Congress still wanted to be citizens of Britain- so what changed?

• 1776- Common Sense pamphlet by Thomas Paine published (other things contributed as well but this was a very important factor)

  • This used everyday language to argue for independence from Britain 

  • Used Biblical references to illustrate the folly of monarchy 

  • Also included a lot of Enlightenment thoughts, which brought these ideas to the common people- previously, only the more elite families were exposed to those works 

  • Some like John Adams thought Paine’s work was too simplistic to communicate the complexity of the Enlightenment ideas, but nevertheless Common Sense was extremely effective in bringing passion to the cause for change amongst the common people 

• Second Continental Congress (1776)

  • Thomas Jefferson put forth a formal resolution for independence (Declaration of Independence)

  • Delegates accepted it on July 2, and made it public on July 4

Unit 3 3.5- The American Revolution

• Big Question- What factors contributed to the American victory in the Revolutionary War?

• Not everyone was in agreement with breaking away from Britain 

  • Patriot cause embodied by the Continental Congress and furthered by reading of Common Sense

  • Despite this, only around half supported the Patriots- some wanted to stay neutral, some opposed independence (Loyalists) 

• Continental Congress appointed George Washington as General of the Continental Army 

• For the first 6 months, they didn’t win any battles

  • poor training, poor weapons, some were coerced into joining

  • People were also very regionally minded- supported their individual colony, but didn’t feel very united towards other colonies 

• British General William Howe landed in NY with experienced well-trained troops, plus some Loyalists joined them 

• Washington realized only way to win was to keep battle going as long as possible so Britain would tire out 

• Black Americans also fought in the war

  • British offered freedom to any enslaved person who fought on their side, so Washington made the same offer

  • Most were free blacks from the North but some from south 

• 1776 Christmas Eve, Washington and army crossed Delaware River and attacked a group of Hessian soldiers, marking their first victory 

  • Hessians were German soldiers that Britain paid to fight 

• September 1777- Battle of Saratoga (most important battle for the Patriots)

  • Big turning point 

  • Ben Franklin had been in France trying to get them to join Patriot cause, but they were hesitant since it looked like British would win

  • Once they saw that Patriots won this battle, they decided to side with Americans 

    • King Louis saw it as an opportunity to weaken Britain 

    • Spain and Holland also joined 1 year later 

• 1781- Battle of Yorktown 

  • Support from French naval and military forces helped Washington and army force British surrender 

• Treaty of Paris ended the war

  • British officially recognized America as an independent nation

Unit 3 3.6- The Influence of Revolutionary Ideals

• Big Questions- How did the American Revolution affect American society, and how did it affect global society?

• American Society

• Issue of slavery- much of revolutionary ideas used discussion of liberty and freedom- Declaration says all men are created equal

  • Most agreed with the sentiment in the moment, but Southern plantation owners disagreed since they relied on slavery for money 

  • The Continental Congress had previously abolished slave importation and many northern colonies abolished it as well

• State governments got rid of titles based on nobility 

• Women 

  • Contributed greatly to the war- continued domestic duties while also taking over husband’s role of farming 

  • Some even disguised themselves as men and fought in the war

  • Some like the Ladies Association of Philadelphia wanted to assist in war effort by supplying clothing bandages and bullets

  • Nancy Hart- Had 6 British soldiers over for food, shot and killed 2 while her neighbors hanged the rest

  • Ideal of Republican Motherhood developed 

    • Women were important for democracy because they needed to raise sons well-schooled in republican ideals- and to do so they needed to be educated in these ideals 

• Global Society 

• The fact that America was trying to establish a government based on individual liberties and ideals rather than make another monarchy inspired other revolutionary movements

  • French Revolution (1789 started)

    • Society separated into 3 estates, nobility clergy and commoners

    • Third estate was 98 percent of the population but all 3 had an equal vote- so third estate established its own governing body, the National Assembly

    • In the end the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen was created- influenced by Declaration of Independence 

  • Haitian Revolution

    • Colony under French

    • Majority of enslaved island rose up against masters and killed many of them

    • Toussaint L’Ouverture led the rebellion 

    • Haitians ended up winning and established independent Haitian government 

  • Other Latin American countries (Spain and Portugal)- more followed

Unit 3 3.7- The Articles of Confederation

• Americans were now officially separate from Britain after Declaration of Independence became public July 4 1776- needed a new governing system

• Articles of Confederation ratified 1781

  • Influenced by existing state constitutions 

    • States made their own governments prior to this and put a lot of power into the legislative branch

    • They feared putting too much power into a central executive for fear this figure could become a monarch, so have legislative more power

  • Articles had no executive branch or judicial system- just legislative

  • Every state represented had an equal vote as well as veto power

  • 9/13 states had to agree for any changes to be made to Articles 

• One immediate problem- westward migration 

  • Needed to be regulated so government passed Northwest Ordinance of 1787

    • Ordinance abolished slavery in the Northwest Territory

    • Also provided means by which western territories could become a state

• Shays’ Rebellion

  • Many farmers had fallen into debt when fighting the war, but came back to new taxes- very upset 

  • Daniel Shays gathered other upset Massachusetts farmers, but the uprising was stopped by Massachusetts militia 

  • Had a lasting impact still because there was no federal troops to provide aid- showed everyone the weakness of the Articles

Unit 3 3.8- The Constitutional Convention and Debates over Ratification 

• Big Question- What were the differing ideological positions on the structure and function of the newly conceived federal government?

• 55 delegates from the states met in Philadelphia to revamp Articles

• Question became if they should create a NEW Constitution, or edit the Articles?

  • Result- decided to make a new one, which was pushed for by James Madison and Alexander Hamilton

•  Next big issue- Representation of the people (2 main ideas)

  • Virginia Plan

    • Strong centralized power

    • 2 house Congress

    • Representatives in the houses based on population (favored by large states)

  • New Jersey Plan 

    • 1 house Congress

    • Equal representative quantity per state (favored by smaller states)

  • Great Compromise 

    • 2 house Congress

    • 1 house based on population, 1 equal vote (2 each)

  • How to represent slaves? South wanted them represented since it would give them more say, but didn’t actually treat them as citizens 

    • 3/5 Compromise- Slaves would be counted as 3/5 of a person

    • Ban of slavery would be removed in Northwest Territory (which was passed in Northwest Ordinance) until 1808

  • Voting for representatives?

    • House of Representatives members would be voted on by the people for 2 year terms 

    • Senate would be elected by state legislatures for six year terms

    • Executive branch would be elected by electoral college 

• Once Constitution was finished, 9/13 states would have to ratify for it to become law

  • Federalists were pro-Constitution

    • Members included Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay- all wrote anonymous essays called the Federalist Papers which detailed why states needed to ratify the Constitution

  •  Anti-federalists were against it, thought it put too much power into a central government and not enough with the states

    • Disliked there was no protection for the event that the central executive got too powerful- Bill of Rights- which was later added in order to appease them

• 1788- Constitution ratified by necessary 9/13 states

Unit 3 3.9- The Constitution

• Main Provisions of the Constitution (2 main)

  • Federalism: The sharing of power between the national and state governments 

    • However, there are a few more complications as to which is more powerful 

      • Supremacy Clause (Article 6)- Constitution is the Supreme Law of the Land and takes precedence over state constitutions if they contradict- but only some of these fall under this, which are called enumerated powers 

      • (Tenth Amendment)- The powers not delegated to the federal gov are reserved to the states 

  • Separation of Powers

    • Legislative branch- makes laws

    • Executive- enforces laws

    • Judicial- interprets the laws to ensure they align with Constitution 

    • Set up so each branch can check and balance each other so no one branch can become too powerful

Unit 3 3.10- Shaping a New Republic 

• Washington is elected first president 

• Established executive departments, each with secretaries who made up the presidential Cabinet to advise him

• Hamilton was Sec of Treasury and wanted to establish a National Bank

  • Establishment would unify states and improve nation’s credit- he wanted to absorb states’ individual debt into national debt, making states more dependent on federal gov 

  • Highly contested 

    • Some because they were from states that already paid off most or all of their debt

    • Others because the Constitution didn’t specifically give the federal government the power to establish a national bank (strict interpretation of Constitution)

    • Hamilton argued back that it fell under what was “necessary and proper” under the Elastic Clause - “Congress has the power to make all laws necessary and proper for carrying out Constitution”

• Hamilton’s bank was eventually established and worked

• International issues- French Revolution

  • Washington said U.S. was too weak to get involved in a European War

  • Issues Proclamation of Neutrality in 1793

  • Jefferson argued we owed aid to the French after they helped us in our own war for freedom 

• French foreign minister Edmund Genet went directly to American people trying to get them to support- very unprofessional, so Washington spoke to France to recall him but he ended up becoming a US citizen

• Another conflict- Britain kept seizing American ships and impressing American sailors going to France 

  • Washington sent John Jay to try to get them to stop

  • Many people were upset because Jay’s treaty didn’t end up doing anything about this but is was still helpful

  • Jay’s Treaty- British agreed to give up posts on western frontier of American territory 

• Spanish saw US getting friendly with Britain and didn’t like it 

  • American foreign minister Thomas Pinckney negotiated Pinckney Treaty in 1795 with Spain

    • Spain agreed to let US use port at New Orleans for trade along Mississippi River

    • Southern border of US at 31st parallel

• Battle of Fallen Timbers (1794)

  • Colonists kept expanding westward, causing more conflicts with Natives

  • Also rumors that British were supplying Natives with guns 

  • US Army fought and defeated a confederacy of Native tribes

  • Effect- Indian surrender of all territory in Ohio River Valley

• Whiskey Rebellion (1794)

  • Congress passed a bill to tax whiskey, but this upset western farmers because they were poor

  • PA farmers attacked tax collectors, fed gov had to react- Washington put down the rebellion

  • Compared directly to Shays’ rebellion- there was no federal government to intervene then, now there was- showed Constitution was effective 

  • Some (Thomas Jefferson) criticized Washington for being too harsh 

• Emergence of two party political system 

  • Federalists 

    • Led by Alexander Hamilton

    • Strong central gov

    • Favored urban and elite 

  • Antifederalists/ Democratic Republicans 

    • Led by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison

    • States rights

    • Favored rural/agricultural interests- agrarian society/yeoman farmers 

• Washington stepped down from office after 2 terms 

  • Farewell Address warned against entangling alliances with European nations as well as political factions

• John Adams (Washington’s VP) became second president  

  • Adams as a Federalist and pro British 

  • War broke out between Britain and France, but Adams said the U.S. would remain neutral

  • French started seizing U.S. ships going to Britain 

    • Adams sent delegates to France, but the 3 Frenchmen who met them demanded a bribe before even hearing them out- the Frenchmen were never named but given the titles X, Y, and Z (XYZ Affair) 

  • Both Federalists and Democratic Republicans were outraged 

• Congress passed Alien and Sedition Acts 

  • Alien Act- government could imprison or deport any non-citizen they wanted to (especially Scottish and Irish immigrants, who didn’t like Britain)

  • Sedition Act- No one could publicly criticize the government 

• This outraged Democratic Republicans- saw it as infringing on their rights and a violation of the Constitution

  • Their formal response- Virginia and Kentucky plans- which said the states had the power to nullify any law passed by the federal government that went beyond powers explicitly given to it 

• Adams served one term, then Thomas Jefferson was elected 

Unit 3 3.11- Developing an American Identity

• Big Question- How did the early republic begin developing a distinct American identity? 

• Women during this period were seen as important for establishment of a strong America 

  • Republican Motherhood- Mothers needed to raise sons educated in principles of liberty, and mothers had to be educated in this themselves in order to properly raise their sons 

  • This helped further expand education for girls 

  • Some pushed for even more- Judith Sargent Murray argued women should be able to attain necessities of life apart from men

  • ONLY white women at this time 

• Literature and art of the time 

  • John Trumbull’s painting of the signing of the Declaration of Independence was unrealistic but showed the importance of the moment to the American people

  • Benjamin Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanac helped develop a sense of virtuous industry

• Religion- Jefferson’s Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom separated church and state

UNIT 4- 1800-1848

Unit 4 4.2- The Rise of Political Parties and the Age of Jefferson

• Big Question- What were the causes and effects of policy debates in the early American republic?

• Further rise of political parties

• Jefferson called his election the Revolution of 1800, since it was one of few times that power was transferred peacefully between rival parties 

• Significant events in Jefferson’s presidency 

  • abolished the whiskey tax (passed under Washington)

  • Minimized military and reduced number of federal jobs 

  • Louisiana Purchase of 1803- went against Jefferson’s traditional Democratic Republican values since purchasing land wasn’t a power specifically given to federal gov

    • Included access to Mississippi River- important for trade 

    • Why did the French want to trade the land for such a low price? After losing to Haiti in Haitian Revolution the land became too difficult to get to- not worth it 

  • Jefferson sent James Monroe to France with 2 million dollars to get Mississippi River- but Napoleon offered whole territory for 50 million dollars- Monroe accepted

  • Jefferson was conscience stricken but justified it by saying it was more land to push Natives westward

• Corps of Discovery led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark starting 1804, explored northern area of Purchase 

• Zebulon Pike in 1806 explored the Southern part 

• John Marshall was a chief justice of the Supreme Court- did the most to expand the court’s power 

  • Marbury v Madison (1803)- 

    • Before Congress went from Federalist to Democratic Republican presidency, they passed Judiciary Act 

      • This act made 16 new judge positions

• John Adams spent his last few days signing Federalist judges into these positions- known as the midnight judges 

• This was done to ensure that Federalists would keep power in the courts even though the presidency role would be Democratic Republican

• Jefferson took office and appointed James Madison as Sec of State

  • Madison decided to not deliver the federal appointments

  • -One of them, William Marbury, said he should be given the role based on the Judiciary Act

• John Marshall’s decision: Under the law, Marbury had a right to his job, BUT, the Supreme Court was the final interpreter of the Constitutional and therefore could decide if laws were unconstitutional. The Judiciary Act was declared unconstitutional, so Marbury would NOT get his job 

  • This became known as Judicial Review and expanded the power of the judicial branch

• Another case- McCulloch v Maryland 

  • Does the state have power to tax federal banks? 

  • No- National law trumps state law if they contradict 

• Policy battles with European powers 

  • Barbary states 

    • Since 1790s, US paid tribute to Barbary States of North Africa in exchange for protection of U.S. merchant ships trading there 

    • Jefferson took office, ruler of Tripoli demanded higher payments which Jefferson didn’t want to pay and refused 

    • Barbary Pirates started attacking US ships without protection from the tribute money

    • Jefferson sent US navy to retaliate- no full war but fighting over next 4 yrs 

    • In the end, a reduced tribute payment was agreed on

  • War with Britain- War of 1812

    • James Madison’s presidency 

    • Caused by 2 reasons 

      • Continued impressment of U.S. sailors- even more angering to Americans since they weren’t British citizens anymore 

      • Issues on frontier- British were giving aid to confederacy of Indians to try to hinder U.S. expansion

    • In House of Reps, influential group wanted war with Britain- war hawks 

    • War was declared when Britain refused to agree to U.S. demands 

    • Federalists opposed the war and held a secret meeting- Hartford Convention- where they threatened to secede from Union over the disagreement 

    • U.S. “won” the war and there was an inc in nationalism in U.S.- made Federalists look bad who didn’t have national pride, Federalist Party ends 

Unit 4 4.3- Politics and Regional Interests 

• Big Idea- Explain how different regional interests effected debates about the role of the federal government in the early republic

• National and regional interests often collided 

• War of 1812 demonstrated regional interests- more Federalist areas were against it (New England area)

• The war exposed some areas of weakness in U.S. 

  • Without National Bank, whose charter had expired in 1811, nation didn’t have a reliable source of credit to raise funds 

  • Showed systems of infrastructure and transportation were poor- difficult to move people during the war

• Henry Clay proposed the American System to fix these issues 

  • Federally funded internal improvements like roads and canals 

  • Tariffs to protect US manufacturers 

  • Second Bank of US 

• Madison and Monroe objected the roads and canals because of regional interests

  • Said it was a disadvantage to the south and also an overreach of fed power 

• By 1816 the tariffs and bank were established 

• Regional tensions were inc. by westward expansion

  • Improved roads made travel easier and American began settling in even bigger numbers 

  • 1819- Missouri applied for statehood, which caused a problem 

    • Settlers there had already brought their slaves so it was assumed it would be a slave state 

    • However, this would upset the balance between slave and free states in the Senate 

    • Tallmadge Amendment- proposed by James Tallmadge, amendment to Missouri's application to statehood that would ban slavery after 25 yrs 

      • Enraged Southerners, saw it as a threat to the entirety of slavery

      • South threatened to secede over the issue 

• Henry Clay made Missouri Compromise/ Compromise of 1820 to fix the problem

  • Missouri would be admitted as a slave state 

  • Maine would be a free state 

  • 36 30 like would be established for slave and free states (above is free, below is slave)

Unit 4 4.4- America on the World Stage

• Big Idea- How did the U.S. gov try to gain more territory and establish growing influence in western hemisphere? Explain how and why American foreign policy developed and expanded over time

• 1814- Treaty of Ghent- ended war of 1812

• Treaty left a lot unclear 

• James Monroe became president- wanted to do something about it 

  • Sent John Quincy Adams to Britain to settle territorial claims 

  • Negotiated treaty to put border between US and Canada at 49th parallel

  • Established joint occupation of Oregon for next 10 yrs 

• Issues with Florida territory 

  • Spain owned it, but was having difficulty governing it because they needed troops squashing rebellions in their South American colonies 

  • Seminole Indians and runaway slaves in Florida were crossing over and raising US territory 

  • Monroe sent General Andrew Jackson to stop the issue 

    • He told Jackson he was NOT to engage directly with Spanish forces- Monroe didn’t want a war

    • Jackson attacked 2 Spanish forts 

    • Spain and U.S. agreed to overlook the issue to avoid war, and Spain decided to sell the territory to U.S. 

      • Adams-Onis Treaty (1819) gave U.S. Florida and defined border between Spanish holdings in west and U.S. 

• 1822- Colombia, Mexico, Chile, Peru, and Argentina all became independent states

  • Monroe recognized their independence and established diplomatic relations with them 

  • He didn’t want europe in the western hemisphere so he made the Monroe Doctrine (1823)- Stated the lands and nations in western hemisphere were the US’s responsibility- if there were any problems, US would handle it

  • Wasn’t just about power, TRADE as well

• By late 1820s U.S. trading with Mexico, especially New England manufacturers 

• U.S. merchant ships went across Pacific to China for porcelain and silk

Unit 4 4.5- Market Revolution

• Big Idea- changes in technology, agriculture, and commerce in first half of 19th century 

• Market Revolution: the linking of northern industries with western and southern farms which was created by advances in agriculture, industry, and transportation 

• Regional sectors of US were economically linked together 

• Changed US from mainly agrarian society to capitalist society

• Innovations in transportation

  • National Road (Cumberland Road) Maryland to Illinois, 1000 miles all paved 

  • Canals- human constructed rivers-Erie Canal in NY in 1825

    • Linked farming with manufacturing 

  • Steamboat- made for transportation BOTH WAYS on water- not just downstream

  • Railroad- largely replaced canals by 1820s and 1830s 

    • Exploded, local and state govs granted money and sometimes land for further construction 

• Innovations in industrial technology 

  • Eli Whitney created interchangeable parts 

    • Revolutionized manufacturing- beforehand, an artisan had to make the entire item- Whitney realized if individual pieces could be made separately and with precision, then put together- replacement would be much easier since the part could be purchased alone 

    • This was applied to industry and created factory system in 1820s

    • Mass production done by workers who manned machines 

    • Laborers/workers could be unskilled- didn’t have to be specifically good at making something like an artisan 

    • Result- much more stuff on market to buy 

  • Agricultural Industry 

    • Eli Whitney created Cotton Gin- sped up process of separating cotton seed from cotton fiber 

      • Went into spinning machine to make yarn 

    • Now much more cotton could be shipped 

    • Change in way people farmed- previously subsistence farming, where people farmed to feed themselves 

    • Now, commercial farming started replacing it- focused on growing cash crops to be sold for profit

    • Southern cotton was needed for British textile factories, so American farms are linked to both American and national industry 

• Because of Inc advancement in these areas, regions of U.S. more knit together and more connected with national markets 

Unit 4 4.6- The Market Revolution’s Effect on Society

• Migration was affected

  • across northern part of country industrial cities exploded

  • More people moved to cities for work

  • Immigrants, especially Irish and German, came in great numbers and settled in east

    • Irish came bc of Irish Potato Famine 

    • Germans came because of crop failures in Germany 

    • Others wanted a democratic way of life 

  • Many immigrants worked in factories because of the inc need of labor 

  • Also changed urban landscape- Jews established synagogues, Catholics made churches 

  • Others went west and settled along Ohio and Mississippi rivers 

• People didn’t like the immigrants 

• Nativists in 1830s and 1840s were very against them 

  • Portrayed Jews as underhanded 

  • Catholics were accused of being workers for the Pope sent to undermine American society 

• Middle Class developed first in north- included businessmen, doctors, journalists, shopkeepers- adopted their own society 

  • Temperance was a big deal for them 

  • Religious affiliation was important to them (Protestant)

  • Had money to spend on leisure (lower class didn’t) 

• Changes for women 

  • Cult of Domesticity- women’s identity and purpose is to have babies and raise them and make their home a haven for their husband 

  • Idea took firm hold in middle class since lower class women didn’t have financial stability to stay home- worked in factories 

    • Women in factories worked for very low wages and long hours 

    • Ex. Lowell girls in Lowell factories 

Unit 4 4.7- Expanding Democracy

• Big Idea- Consider how democratic process expanded to include more people 1800-1848

• Causes 

  • Small farmers and working men began demanding franchisement, the right to vote 

    • This was because of the Panic of 1819

    • Years leading up to this, the Second Bank lended less money to Dec inflation- but this made state banks close

    • Unemployment and bankruptcy Inc- people went to prison for not being able to pay debts 

    • Laboring men who got hit with the panic the hardest wanted to hold politicians accountable 

    • During this time property ownership was tied to franchisement 

  • By 1825 most states lowered or eliminated property requirements 

  • This new inclusion of people realigned political parties 

• Democratic Republicans fragmented into 2 parties, Democrats and National Republicans 

  • National Republicans 

    • Like old Federalists 

    • Likes loose interpretation of Constitution

    • Expansive view of federal power

  • Democrats 

    • Like Democratic Republicans 

    • Limited federal power

    • Strict interpretation of Constitution

• Election of 1824 

  • Democratic Republicans ended up with 4 candidates 

    • John Quincy Adams 

    • Henry Clay 

    • William Crawford 

    • Andrew Jackson

  • Jackson won most popular votes but none of the candidates won electoral college votes 

  • According to Constitution, president had to be chosen by House of Representatives 

  • Henry Clay knew he wasn’t going to win, so he supported Adams and used his influence in the House to get him elected 

  • Jackson was furious 

  • Adams made Henry Clay his Sec of State 

  • Jackson called this the Corrupt Bargain even though nothing “wrong” was done 

Unit 4 4.8- Jackson and Federal Power

• Democrats and National Republicans were proper parties now- the Democrats and Whigs

  • Democrats 

    • Under Andrew Jackson

    • Like old Democratic Republicans 

  • Whigs 

    • Like National Republicans/Federalists 

    • AGAINST crimes committed by immigrants 

  • Disagreed on tariffs, national bank, and internal improvements 

• Tariffs 

  • Tariff of 1828 passed under end of Quincy Adams’ administration

    • Raised duties on tariffs by 40%- helped north but southerners relied on imports a lot so they were upset 

  • Andrew Jackson elected in 1828- he wasn’t a fan of the tariff but didn’t care to get rid of it 

  • His VP John C Calhoun hated it (being from SC) and called it Tariff of Abominations 

  • Calhoun made the doctrine of nullification- if a state thought a federal law was unconstitutional, that state could ignore the law and nullify it

  • Jackson disagreed- 1833 he got congress to pass a Force Bill, where he could respond to SC with militant intervention 

  • Eventually agreed to reduce the tariff- SC agreed to the lowered cost, but nullified the Force Bill

• National Bank 

  • Second National Bank established in 1816, in 1820s it stabilized economy 

  • In 1830s many state banks had to close because they couldn’t pay bills to national bank 

    • This left many with worthless paper money 

  • Jackson thought the bank was unconstitutional because of this- saw it as lifting up the rich and hurting the poor 

  • 1832 Henry Clay had Congress pass bill to recharter the bank- Jackson vetoed it 

• Internal Improvements 

  • Henry Clay’s American System had authorized roads and canals to be built with federal authority 

  • Whigs thought these costs were necessary for connectedness

  • Jacksonians saw it as an overreach of federal authority and unconstitutional 

• Indian Removal under Jackson

  • Indian Removal Act of 1830

  • Cheokee nation in Georgia called itself a sovereign nation, but the Americans there disagreed 

  • Gold was discovered on their lands 

  • Act was passed, all Indians had to be relocated to Oklahoma territory west of the Mississippi 

  • Cherokee challenged their removal in the Supreme Court in Worcester v Georgia 

    • Supreme Court sided with Cherokee- Georgia couldn’t impose state laws in Cherokee boundaries 

    • 1835- small group of Cherokee made Treaty of New Echota with US officials- even though they did this without tribal sanction- and exchanged their land for land in the west

  • 1838 Trail of Tears- forced removal of Indians to Oklahoma Territory

    • Lot of sickness and death as they traveled 

  • Some Natives (especially Cherokee) resisted removal forcefully or by hiding 

  • Eventually settled in reservation in NC known as Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians, eventually became U.S. citizens 

Unit 4 4.9- The Development of American Culture

• Prior to this most art and architecture has European influence 

• Enlightenment thought influenced many early documents, gave way to romanticism and Second Great Awakening 

• Romanticism traded rationalism from Enlightenment ideas for emotional thinking plus belief in human perfectibility 

• Architecture 

  • Transition to more Greek and Roman architecture- pillars, arches, domes 

• Literature 

  • James Fenimore Cooper’s Last of the Mohicans romanticized the mystery and adventure of American west

  • Washington Irving’s Legend of Sleepy Hollow

  • Noah Webster published dictionary- used in schools, standardized spelling of American English 

• Art 

  • Hudson River School painted pristine untouched land with hints of civilization arriving 

• Often emotion was inc and accuracy was dec 

• Philosophy - Transcendentalism

  • Emphasized belief in human perfectibility 

  • Ralph Waldo Emerson- writings emphasized individualism and self reliance 

  • Henry David Thoreau- lived by a pond in a cabin for 2 years- lived as simply as he could to understand truth about life- book called Walden

• Utopian Communities started- moving away from main society 

  • Shakers 

    • Group of Christians, eventually died out from lack of repopulation 

  • Oneida Community

    • Everyone was equal- held property in common, and marriage and parenting was common- everyone helped everyone else’s kids

    • Made silverware to support them financially 

Unit 4 4.10- The Second Great Awakening

• Big Question: what were the causes of the second Great Awakening?

• Second Great Awakening was a series of religious revivals among Protestant Christians that emphasized righteous living, personal restraint, and a strong moral rectitude that would lead a person and society to salvation 

• Camp meetings helped spread the revival- preachers would speak all day at these 

• What caused it? 

  • Market Revolution- Individuals learned that economic success or failure were in their own hands, which was preached in second great awakening

    • Salvation was in their own hands if they reformed their lives 

    • In comparison, first great awakening did not preach this- they believed eternal salvation was in hands of God alone 

  • Rising Democratic and Individualistic beliefs 

    • Lower classes were especially affected in movement because it made them all equal 

  • Romanticism 

    • Emotional over rational- preaching done in this revival was largely emotional and didn’t require philosophical thinking 

    • Ex. Charles Grandison Finney

Unit 4 4.11- An Age of Reform

• Big Question: How and why did various reform movements develop and expand from 1800-1848?

• Reforms were largely a result of the cultural and economic shifts from the Market Revolution

• 4 reforms to note- Religious reform, temperance, abolitionism, and women’s rights 

• Religious reform 

  • Shakers and Oneida from last set of notes 

  • 1840s Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints- the Mormons 

  • Founder was Joseph Smith, who got revelations from Christ- he believed the church had strayed from God’s intentions and that he was a prophet to return them to true form

  • Trouble arose when he said God gave him visions instructing for polygamy, which some of his followers disliked, so they arrested and lynched Smith

  • Next leader was Brigham Young who led his followers to migrate to Utah territory- wanted to avoid AntiMormon sentiment 

• Temperance 

  •  Tied to Second Great Awakening, begins as movement in the Protestant Church- wanted to cure social problems by eliminating alcohol

  • American Temperance Society founded in 1826

    • Targeted working class men who drank most

  • Eventually reached policy makers and factory owners- thought temperance could reduce crime and inc productivity 

  • Irish and German immigrants were strongly against temperance but didn’t have political power 

• Abolitionism

  • Spectrum of people who wanted to end slavery gradually, or end it immediately 

  • Second Great Awakening has a lot of influence and convinced people slavery was a sinful institution 

  • William Lloyd Garrison was influential and published The Liberator- abolitionist newspaper; he made the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1833 

  • Free blacks and escaped slaves also fought for abolition 

  • Frederick Douglass was one of these individuals

• Women’s Rights

  • Many women who were in the antislavery society found that they wanted to advocate for abolitionism but stays as women made it difficult

  • Seneca Falls Convention 1848- convention to address women’s rights in society, led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott

  • Drafted document Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions- expressed their gripes about women’s rights 

Unit 4 4.12- African Americans in the Early Republic 

• Enslaved people made their own social identity and rich culture despite the harsh conditions 

• Culture they created 

  • Many kept their African names and addresses each other by them 

  • Used West African and Caribbean languages when among themselves 

  • Folktales, music, and dance were passed down 

  • Kept their own religions or started following Christianity

  • Despite the dehumanization of slavery, they resisted

• Resistance they made 

  • Sometimes they outright rebelled, which was slave owners biggest fear

    • Haitian Revolution 1804 furthered this fear 

  • 1831- Nat Turner’s Rebellion - organized slave revolt led by Turner who believed God chose him for a mission- he and his followers killed his masters and headed to other plantations to do the same, ending up killing 57 whites before VA military squashed the rebellion 

  • Turner and his followers were hanged 

  • Mutiny on Amistad 1839- one man unshackled himself and got himself free- they killed the cook and captain, but once the ship reached East Coast they were incarcerated 

    • In United States v The Amistad the enslaved Africans were freed

• Between 1820-1840 most Southern legislatures made it illegal to free a slave and a crime to teach them to read and write 

• Slaves couldn’t marry or have access to court 

Unit 4 4.13- The Society of the South in the Early Republic

• Majority of Southern white farmers did not own enslaved laborers 

  • They were yeoman farmers- which meant they were independent farmers who worked their own land

• Most did believe in slavery but sometimes challenged goals of slave owners, especially those on western frontier, who wanted gradual end to slavery 

  • This wasn’t on a moral basis- they saw how enslaved labor disadvantaged them because they had to work all day by themselves 

  • As they got more voting rights they wanted to make an influence in government, but since cotton was so important there wasn’t much they could do  

• Southern slave owners faced more difficulty as slavery was abolished in other nations 

  • Ex Britain 1834

  • Made abolitionist movement inc which scared South

• However, the plantation owners still had enough power to keep control 

• White plantation owners consolidated their power 

  • Mass loans to people

  • Hired poor whites

  • Used resources to transport crops of yeoman farmers to market 

  • All of these gave incentive to other whites in south, regardless of if they owned slaves or not, to not mess with the institution of slavery

• White planters furthered the idea of white supremacy 

  • Thomas Dew argued for the positive good of slavery 

  • John C Calhoun agreed that slavery was economically and morally correct

UNIT 5- 1844-1877

Unit 5 5.2- Manifest Destiny

• End of 18th century and beginning of 19th century, westward expansion was one of the biggest parts of American society

• July 1845, John O'Sullivan gave it a name- Manifest Destiny as well as a formal definition- it is Americans’ God-given right and purpose to expand westward until they have expanded across the continent

• Causes that fueled westward expansion

  • Need for minerals and natural resources 

    • Gold found in California 1848, caused California Gold Rush

    • People rushed west in hopes to strike it rich, but most were unable to do so

  • New economic and homestead opportunities 

    • Preemption acts 1840s made vast areas of land available for cheap

  • Religious refuge 

    • Mormons in Utah

• Idea of Manifest Destiny also got to elections 

• Election for 1844- James K Polk elected 

  • Polk believed strongly in Manifest Destiny and wanted to add Texas and Oregon to the Union 

• Background on Texas

  • Texas still belonged to Mexico at the time but had more Americans living there- mostly white Protestant and slave-owning 

  • 1829 Mexican government made 2 requirements of immigrants- convert to Catholicism and banned slavery- the Americans there ignored these laws 

  • 1834 a new Mexican leader came to power and wanted to enforce this rule

  • Texans refused and revolted under Sam Houston, declared Texas an independent republic in 1836

  • Mexico sent forces to put down the rebellion and killed every American at the Alamo 

  • Houston and forces responded with Battle of San Jacinto and captured Mexican general, who they forced to sign treaty granting Texan independence- even though generals didn’t have that authority

  • While Texas claimed independence, Mexico didn’t recognize its independence- which complicated the issue when Texas applied for statehood to the U.S. 

    • Jackson and Van Buren both refused annexation since it could cause war with Texas 

    • John Tyler worked to add Texas but was denied by the Senate, in last months of presidency after Polk was elected as next president he annexed Texas

• Oregon Territory 

  • Americans and Britain had competing land claims 

  • Polk interpreted his election as a mandate from the people to annex more, since his platform for running had been annexation 

    • Polk made an agreement with British, Oregon territory was divided at 49th parallel

Unit 5 5.3- The Mexican-American War

• Big Question: What were the causes and effects of the Mexican-American War?

• Causes 

  • Texas declared its independence from Mexico in 1836

  • Polk took office in 1845 and one of his main campaign promises was to annex Texas 

    • John Tyler (president before Polk) technically annexed Texas, not Polk, but it was because he saw from Polk’s platform and election that it was what people wanted 

  • Polk sent diplomat John Slidell to Mexico City with a few tasks

    • Ask Mexican Gov to sell more land to U.S. (New Mexico and California) - they said no 

    • Settle location of southern border of Mexico

      • Mexicans said it ran along Nueces River

      • Americans said it was along Rio Grande

    • No agreements were really reached 

  • Polk took matters into his own hands in 1846 

    • Since he believed the boundary was at the Rio Grande, he put federal troops led by General Zachary Taylor in territory there

    • Mexican troops arrived as well and attacked- 11 Americans dead

  • Polk took the conflict and raised public outrage- framed it as an attack from Mexico on American soil even though the area was contested land 

  • 1846 Congress declared war

  • Small amount of American military gained enough ground to claim California and New Mexico territory 

  • General Winfield Scott led American forces to conquer and occupy Mexico City which forced Mexico to negotiate 

• Effects of the Mexican-American War

  • First effect- Huge land gains for U.S. from Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo 

    • Rio grande established as southern border of Texas

    • Outlined Mexican Cession

      • CA and New Mexico were ceded for 15 million dollars 

    • Not part of the treaty but U.S. also made Gadsden Purchase in 1853- Mexico lost more than half its territory to U.S. 

• 1846 it was assumed to be a possibility that U.S. would win war and gain land, so David Wilmot added the Wilmot Proviso to a bill 

  • Proposed any lands gained from victory in the Mexican American War would not allow slavery 

  • While it was voted down, it illustrated a growing idea of free soil, which was land for homesteaders without competition due to slavery (more economically concerned than morally based)

  • Some say the proviso was the first real step that ultimately led to war

• Second affect- Most people living in the territories that became Americans stayed there- which included Americans, Mexicans, and Natives 

  • All Mexicans were given U.S. citizenship, but this offer wasn’t given to Natives 

  • Both still faced voter discrimination and educational segregation

Unit 5 5.4- The Compromise of 1850

• Territory gained from the Mexican Cession caused great tension about the expansion of slavery 

  • Wilmot Proviso was narrowly defeated, which would have abolished slavery in any territories won

• Major positions held by those in power 

  • Southern position 

    • Composed of southern farmers

    • Slavery was a constitutional right 

    • Slavery had already been decided by Missouri Compromise

  • Free Soil Movement

    • Composed of northern Democrats and Whigs

    • Wanted any new territories to be for free laborers, not enslaved ones 

    • Conflicting views within the group- some thought this way not moral argument, they didn’t want any blacks-free or enslaved- there because they wanted white opportunities, while abolitionists who were also in this group wanted slavery banned everywhere, not just the territory acquired, and had a moral basis

    • This group eventually made the Free Soil Party

  • Popular Sovereignty

    • Each territory should decide if there will be slavery there for themselves 

    • Seemed like a good middle ground, but to South any hindrance of slavery was an attack on their way of life, PLUS they believed the issue was already established in Compromise of 1820

• California and New Mexico entered as free states, issue became very tense- south threatened secession since there was unequal power in Senate now 

• Henry Clay made the Compromise of 1850 in order to stop Southern secession 

  • Mexican Cession would be divided into Utah and New Mexico territories and would practice popular sovereignty

  • CA would be a free state 

  • Slave trade banned in Washington DC 

  • Stricter enforcement of Fugitive Slave Law

    • However, since North was becoming more antislavery, North wasn’t very inclined to return runaway slaves

 Unit 5 5.5- Sectional Conflict: Regional Differences

• Differing opinions about immigration and slavery 

• Immigration 

  • Huge influx of German and Irish immigrants pre-civil war

  • Settled in cultural enclaves- areas where they lived together and kept practicing their customs and religions

  • Many Irish settled in NYC (Five Points Neighborhood) and mainly in slums 

  • Some Germans settled urban areas but many went west to farm 

  • Nativists opposed this- 

    • Nativism: policy of protecting interests of native-born people against interests of immigrants 

    • They also disliked that Irish were Catholic, not Protestant

    • Know- Nothing Party formed- political party based on dislike towards immigrants 

• Slavery 

  • North and South has very different economic foundations 

    • North- Free wage laborers working manufacturing jobs in factories and greater population growth

    • South- enslaved labor in agricultural plantations and smaller population growth

  • Free soil Movement arose from Northern sentiments against slavery in new territories (later Free Soil Party) 

    • Supported Wilmot Proviso

    • Didn’t care to abolish slavery in South, they just didn’t want it in the new territory 

  • Abolitionists included free black and white members- they were a minority though 

    • William Lloyd Garrisons newspaper “The Liberator”

    • Harriet Beecher Stowe’s “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”- fiction but showed real depiction of horrors of slavery

    • Frederick Douglass gave speeches 

    • Underground Railroad was a system of houses to get slaves running away to the North

    • John Brown thought a slave uprising was needed- made a plan to raid federal arsenal at Harper’s Ferry so he could ignite an armed rebellion 

      • Took the fort but they were stopped 

      • Brown was soon thereafter hanged for his crimes 

    • Brown had ties to many northern abolitionists, so South saw his violent approach as the true goal of all abolitionists 

Unit 5 5.6- The Failure of Compromise Pre-Civil War

• American kept gaining more land, so question of free v slave kept coming up

• Kansas-Nebraska Act 

  • Part of Louisiana Purchase, area was above the 36 30 line established in Missouri Compromise, so according to the compromise, territory would be free

  • 1854 Senator Stephen Douglas proposed the territory be divided into Kansas territory and Nebraska territory, then each area would be based on popular sovereignty

  • By passing this, overturned Missouri Compromise 

  • Violence erupted in “Bleeding Kansas”among settlers of opposing views 

  • 1855 it was time to elect a territorial legislature- 1500 men were eligible to vote, but there ended up being 6000 votes because people moved to the territory especially from slave-holding Missouri in order to sway the election

  • In the end, 2 rival legislatures were established 

    • Pro-slavery legislature established in Lecompton, while antislavery legislature was in Topeka 

  • President Franklin Pierce recognized the pro slavery government and considered the antislavery one as fraudulent 

• Dred Scott Decision (1857)

  • Dred Scott was an enslaved man in Missouri, taken by his master to live in Illinois and Wisconsin- both free states

  • Scott sued his master arguing that after living in free territory for 2 years, he was a free man

  • Chief Justice Roger Taney made decision against Scott’s argument- he said

    •  As a slave, Dred Scott was not a citizen and could not sue in federal court 

    • Constitution says states cannot deprive a citizen of property- and since slaves were property, slave owners could take slaves anywhere they wanted without their slaves being taken away 

  • This has HUGE implications, since it implied that slavery could exist anywhere now- including everywhere in free states 

• Tension over slavery weakened the two party system 

  • Whig Party became divided between Cotton Whigs (pro slavery) and Conscience Whigs (antislavery) 

  • Democratic Party was getting power as pro slavery party 

  • Republican Party formed 1854 

    • Former members of Know Nothing

    • Abolitionists 

    • Free spoilers 

    • Conscience Whigs 

    • Republicans argued ONLY that slavery should not spread into new territories- didn’t argue anything about total abolition

Unit 5 5.7- The Election of 1860 and Secession

• Big Question: What were the effects of the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860?

• Republican Party did well in midterm congressional elections which scared Southern Democrats about election 1860

• Election of 1860

  • Democrats nominated Stephen Douglas 

  • Republicans nominated Abraham Lincoln (free soil platform)

    • Lincoln had no intention of abolishing slavery where it already existed

  • Democrats were divided going into the election 

    • Northern Democrats represented by Douglas wanted popular sovereignty 

    • Southern Democrats represented by John Breckinridge wanted slavery in new territories protected by federal slave code- once they became states then they could decide with popular sovereignty 

  • Lincoln ended up winning and Southerners were very scared by this new inc in Northern power

• December 1860 before Lincoln was even inaugurated South Carolina seceded from the Union 

  • Within 6 weeks 6 more states followed, plus more later 

  • They became the Confederate States of America 

• Why did the Southern States secede? 

  • Issue of slavery and violation of “right” to have slaves- not really about states rights 

• president of confederacy- Jefferson Davis 

Unit 5 5.8- Military Conflict in the Civil War

• Big Question: What were the various factors that contributed to the Union victory in the Civil War?

• Each side had advantages 

  • South 

    • Defensive war (on their soil)

    • Possessed far greater and more experienced military leaders (Robert E Lee and Stonewall Jackson)

  • North 

    • 4x population of the South

    • Possessed robust navy to control seas and rivers 

    • Controlled majority of banks, manufacturing, and arts

    • Well-established government 

• In North, manufacturers inc their productive capacity to make supplies for war

• South used tariffs and taxes on exports to raise revenue but didn’t work well with Union naval blockades 

• There was opposition to war on both sides 

  • South imposed a war tax, but since south was for states rights, people refused to give tax money to centralized effort 

  • North 

    • NYC Draft Riots (1863)- any man could pay $300 to get out of the draft, which working class men saw as unfair- the rich could get out of going to war but no one else could- this was the basis for the riot, in the end 120 people were killed 

• Lincoln didn’t want to go to war but Fort Sumter convinced him to 

  • This was a military base located in South Carolina- SC cut off supply lines to the fort, and Lincoln announced he would be sending supplies to the troops there 

  • South started firing at the supply ships as they approached Fort Sumter 

• First Battle of Bull Run

  • Civilians came to watch the battle- having picnics 

  • Union started out doing well but once Stonewall Jackson came with reinforcements they were forced to flee

  • Showed public the war would not be short and easy

• Overall strategies 

  • North 

    • Anaconda Plan- North would rely on naval blockade to block Southern ports and control Mississippi River- would split Confederacy in half 

  • South

    • Relied heavily on Britain and France, who were willing to help because South gave them cotton- “King Cotton” 

    • Ultimately they realized India and Egypt could supply them with cotton 

• Union succeeded because of:

  • Improvements in leadership and strategy 

  • Key battle victories 

  • Wartime destruction of south’s infrastructure 

• Improvements in leadership and strategy

  • Ulysses S Grant

  • Emancipation Proclamation

    • Didn’t free enslaved people everywhere, but declared those in states that were rebelling to be free

    • This left slaves in the Border States, part of the Union that had slaves 

    • Made the war not just about saving the Union of the country, but ALSO about eradicating slavery 

    • Worked as a strategy because 

      • made enslaved workers ran to safety of Union lines(in order to be free) and some started fighting on Union side

      • Stopped British involvement since they had just abolished slavery 

• Key victories in battle 

  • Battle of Vicksburg- gave US control of Mississippi River which accomplished cutting South in 2

  • William Tecumseh Sherman captured Atlanta and burned his path to the ground- March to the Sea from Atlanta to Savannah, crops and land were burned, RRs were destroyed (turned into “Sherman’s hairpins” and “iron pretzels”)

  • Appomattox Courthouse- Lee surrendered to Grant 

Unit 5 5.9- Government Policies During the Civil War 

• Big Question: How did Abraham Lincoln’s leadership during the Civil War impact American ideals over the course of the war?

• Emancipation Proclamation- freed all enslaved people in confederacy 

• Gettysburg Address (1863)

  • Purpose was to unify the nation and to portray the struggle against slavery as the fulfillment of America’s founding democratic ideals 

Unit 5 5.10- Reconstruction

• Big Idea: Explain the effects of government policy during Reconstruction on society from 1865-1877

• Big question after war- should Confederacy be treated with leniency, or as a conquered enemy?

• Abraham Lincoln

  • Lenient policy- he argued the South never actually left the Union because it was legally impossible for them to do so

  • Feared harsh treatment would only renew tensions that led to secession

  • His plan for Reconstruction was the Ten Percent Plan, which said:

    • States could reestablish their state governments if 10% of the people who voted in 1860 pledged loyalty to the Union

    • State legislatures had to ratify Thirteenth Amendment which abolished slavery 

  • A few weeks before the war officially ended, John Wilkes Booth assassinated Lincoln

• Lincoln’s VP Andrew Johnson became president- he carried out Lincoln’s plan, but didn’t care about the cause

  • Black Codes were restrictive laws passed in the South that restricted Black freedom and wages

• Group in Congress- Radical Republicans - disliked Johnson’s leniency, who thought South needed to pay 

  • Wanted Reconstruction to be led by Congress instead of pres 

  • They passed 2 important pieces of legislation 

    • Freedmen's Bureau which was to help black people get established in society 

    • Civil Rights Act of 1866- protected citizenship of black citizens, gave them equal protection under the law 

  • Johnson vetoed both 

  • Congress responded by overriding his veto

• Republicans feared overturning of Civil Rights Act so they made Fourteenth Amendment- all people born in U.S. were citizens, and all citizens had equal protection under the law

• Also passed Reconstruction Acts 1867 (over Johnson’s Veto) 

  • Assured all laws passed in the South would be enforced 

  • South divided into 5 military districts which had federal troops to ensure Reconstruction laws were being followed

  • Increased requirements for states to rejoin Union

    • States also had to ratify 14th amendment and add universal male voting rights to state constitutions 

• Impeachment of Andrew Johnson 

  • Refers to the trial to remove a president from office, not the actual removal 

  • Republicans in Congress wanted to get Johnson out of office to they passed Tenure of Office Act (1867) which made it illegal which made it illegal for President to fire member of his cabinet without Congressional approval 

  • Johnson fired a member of his cabinet, and Congress brought an impeachment trial as a result 

  • Senate failed to remove Johnson from presidency by one vote 

    • While not removed, Johnson didn’t have much power in comparison to Congress at this point

• Women’s rights movement in relation to reconstruction 

  • Fifteenth Amendment granted voting rights to male black population 

  • Women’s rights activists (Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B Anthony) were upset that it did not include women 

  • Split women’s rights into 2 groups 

  • National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) (led by Stanton and Anthony) fought for voting rights to be extended to women 

  • Others like Lucy Stone and Henry Blackwell thought it was important to support Reconstruction at federal level and women’s suffrage at state level- made American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA)

Unit 5 5.11- The Failure of Reconstruction

• Big Ideas: How Southern society and economics didn’t change all that much after the Civil War was over, + how and why Reconstruction officially came to an end 

• Southern society after war 

  • Black population had to adjust to freedom 

  • they made black churches and schools, some even got elected to various offices 

• Congress’ Freedmen’s Bureau helped reunite families separated by slavery and arranged for their education and social welfare 

• However, white population of the south was trying to keep society as close to slavery conditions as possible 

  • Ex 1-South still had fields and crops that needed to be cultivated, but now their labor force was gone- so they used a system similar to slavery

    • Black workers would agree to work in the fields but they had to sign a contract in order to have this employment- these contracts bound them to the plantation and gave plantation owners the right to have unlimited labor from them 

    • Eventually grew less extreme and became sharecropping 

      • Land owners provided farm supplies to worker in exchange for share of the harvest 

      • Seemed like a good opportunity for black people to gain some money, but in practice it became coerced servitude- some whites fell victim to this system as well as blacks 

  • Ex 2- Belief in white supremacy remained prominent in southern society

    • Ku Klux Klan (KKK) founded in 1867- controlled Southern politics and lynched blacks 

    • Black Codes were put into law 

      • Ex. Black Americans couldn’t borrow or rent land, couldn’t testify against white people in court, and allowed racial segregation 

• These consistencies with previous Southern mindset happened WITH federal occupation of the south- so it would take a turn even worse when they left 

• Reconstruction ended because of the election of 1876 between Samuel Tilden and Rutherford B Hayes

  • Not the ONLY reason, since many lost zeal for reform by 1870s, but still a contributing factor

  • Tilden won majority of popular vote, but neither won enough electoral votes to gain victory

  • In Florida, South Carolina, and Louisiana both Republicans and Democrats claimed they won

  • A special electoral commission was formed and they had a majority of Republicans, so they claimed the victory for Hayes (the Republican candidate)

  • Democrats were outraged and threatened to block Hayes’ inauguration 

  • An agreement was made- Compromise of 1877

    • Democrats agreed to concede election to Hayes

    • All federal troops would be removed from South 

• Democrats came to dominate south again once federal troops were removed- made integration into society even harder for blacks in South

UNIT 6- 1865-1898

Unit 6 6.2- Westward Expansion: Economic Development

• Big Idea: Explain causes and effects of the settlement of the west from 1877-1898

• Mechanization of agriculture began (farming done with machines rather than humans)

  • Mechanical reaper and combine harvester 

• 2 main effects 

  • Farmers could harvest more crops 

  • Small farmers became obsolete 

• Inc production made farm products’ prices decrease steeply (further put pressure on small farmers)

• While larger mechanized farmers were doing better than small farmers, all had some economic challenges 

  • Industrial trusts made sure prices stayed high on manufactured goods- which these farmers relied on (clothes, furniture, etc)- they were having difficulty paying for them

• Farmers were having troubles with RRs as well

  • Many relied to them to transport crops to market, but many railroad owners were charging ridiculously high prices 

• Led to an organized resistance- the National Grange Movement (1868)

  • Goal was to bring farmers together

  • Garage Movement pushed many Midwestern states to make laws regulating RR rates for carrying freight and made corporate practices hurting farmers illegal

  • Became Granger Laws

    • Most significant one was Commerce Act of 1886- requires RR rates to be reasonable and established federal agency to enforce it- the Interstate Commerce Commission

• Importance of RRs

  • Used to encourage western settlement since taking a wagon like on the Oregon Trail wasn’t easy

  • Pacific Railroad Act- fed gov granted land to RR companies who would build Transcontinental Railroad, which was finished in Promontory Summit, Utah with a golden spike 

    • 4 more transcontinental RRs completed in coming years, all using federal land grants 

• Homestead Act (1862) also made migrating west easier

  • Granted people 160 acres of free land west as long as people farmed and settled it 

    • While this seemed like a good venture, these small farms were eventually bought by larger ones- plus, 160 acres wasn’t enough for most farmers to make a living

• Discovery of gold and silver continued bringing people to west after California Gold Rush

  • Boomtowns in Pike Peaks formed

  • Ended up being very diverse since everyone wanted gold 

Unit 6 6.3- Westward Expansion: Social and Cultural Development

• Big Question: What were the causes and effects of the settlement of the West from 1877-1898?

• 1865 many more Americans started pushing west again 

• By 19th century end, frontier was basically closed 

  • This had been pushed for with the Homestead Act and Transcontinental Railroad

• Cattle were brought there by farmers and RR construction continued

  • Homesteaders became known as sodbusters because they were the first to cut into the soil

  • In reality only a fifth of them got land from the government, others bought land from RR companies who had gotten it for cheap or free

  • However, many ultimately had to sell since they couldn’t support themselves 

• Oklahoma territory was opened for settlement even though this was designated Indian territory- this is where they had gone after Indian Removal Act

  • Now with people coming in to settle the area, reservation system was adopted to further confine them- once gold was found there even more people came 

    • Natives in the reservations became official wards of the federal government until they assimilated into American society

  • Some Natives resisted- Sioux Wars in 1886 

  • Indian Appropriation Act (1871)

    • Ended federal recognition of sovereignty of Indian nations and nullified all previous treaties

    • Led to more fights with Natives but they were forced to accept the demands of federal government 

• Dawes Act (1887) was the biggest “answer” to the “Indian Problem”- it divided reservation lands into 160 acre plots for Natives to farm 

  • Played a role in the assimilationist movement 

    • Attempt to end Native culture with vocational education and Christianizing Natives 

• The Ghost Dance Movement developed by Indian prophet Wavoka held idea that if Natives participated in ritual dance the spirits of their ancestors would come back and remove the white man from their lands 

  • Last violent battle at Wounded Knee was taking place while this Movement spread, an old man Lakota Indian rose to perform the dance while US forces were disarming the Lakota- a gun went off and the army killed over 200 Natives, effectively ending the resistance

• 1890- US Census Bureau declared the frontier was closed and officially settled

  • Frederick Jackson Turner argued this wasn’t something to celebrate, but rather a concern- he said whenever problems arose Americans just moved further west- he feared that now that wasn’t an option America would become like European nations with class conflicts 

Unit 6 6.4- The “New” South

• Big Question: What were the various factors that contributed to the continuity and change in the “New South” from 1877 to 1898?

• “New South” refers to the visions some had for the South post- Civil War 

  • Henry Grady, editor of newspaper called Atlanta Constitution coined the phrase “New South” and laid out his vision for it 

  • He wanted the south to be more industrially advanced since that’s how the North won the war 

  • Southern cities started growing and actually surpassed North as too textile manufacturers, but this “urbanization” was only in a few areas of the south- mostly remained agricultural 

• In many ways, the “New South” wasn’t very “new” at all 

  • Sharecropping (already discussed earlier)

  • De jure segregation after federal troops were removed 

    • Plessy v Ferguson (1896)- Louisiana had a law that railcars had to be segregated, and a man named Homer Plessy, who was ⅛ black, refused to leave a white railcar

    • Ruling said racial segregation was constitutional as long and separate facilities were equal in quality “separate but equal”

      • In reality facilities were always separate but never equal

• Jim Crow Laws stemmed from the Plessy v Ferguson case, which segregated almost every area of society

• Blacks lost other rights during this time as well- forbidden to serve on juries or run for public office, many were denied court appearances if accused of crimes 

  • Blacks were violently lynched as “justice” for their “crimes”

• Despite these challenges, there were many who continued to fight for equality 

  • Ida B Wells- editor of black newspaper in South, she wrote strongly against lynching and Jim Crow Laws

  • Henry Turner- founded International Migration Society (1894) which helped blacks migrate to Liberia in Africa

    • Unfortunately not sustainable since Liberia didn’t have many economic opportunities 

  • Booker T Washington 

    • Controversial, his view was that blacks did not need to fight for equality in politics- he said blacks needed to become self sufficient economically in order to gain rights

    • His vision was deemed impractical since it was too difficult for masses of blacks to attain

Unit 6 6.5- Technological Innovation in the Gilded Age

• In last few decades of 19th century, industry in U.S. changed significantly

  • Prior to industrialization, Americans made things to use themselves or to sell locally/regionally

  • During this period, Americans started mass-producing goods to be sold all over the world 

• Technology that made this possible 

  • Railroad 

    • Quick and easy transportation made national market for goods 

    •  Fed Gov furthered RR production because it gave RR companies land grants and loan subsidies 

  • Henry Bessemer made the Bessemer process for steel production that made steel much stronger- air blasted through molten iron made stronger steel- this improved quality of arts

  • Access to coal and oil also served as energy sources for industrialization

  • Telegraph made by Samuel Morse a while ago but Telegraph wires expanded greatly at this time which made it more effective 

    • Trans Atlantic cable connected US to Europe which made an international market for coal, oil, steel

  • Alexander Graham Bell made the telephone

Unit 6 6.6- The Rise of Industrial Capitalism

• Industrialism- change to mass production and mass-consumption of goods

• This time frame was known as Gilded Age

  • There was a lot of corruption underneath the “gilded” appearance 

• Small businesses became obsolete because of large corporations like RR steel and oil that came to dominate industries 

• Oil 

  • Rockefeller owned the Standard Oil company, he forced competitors to sell companies to him which eliminated competition- he owned almost all of the oil industry

    • This practice of buying out competition was known as horizontal integration 

• Steel 

  • Andrew Carnegie grew his steel company and bought companies that handled all parts of the steel-making process (mining to distribution)

    • This was vertical integration

• These grew so powerful that they began looking outside US to get claims in foreign markets 

  • Many Americans didn’t want US to become an empire though 

• Carnegie Rockefeller and others got VERY wealthy, but weren’t stopped 

  • Laissez faire in government policies was normal- government didn’t normally interfere in citizens’ affairs 

  • Politicians of the time strongly supported this, since they usually were giving the government officials money for them to stay out of the way, since the politicians wanted to keep getting richer 

  • They also relied on immigrants, women, and children, all of which they could underpay 

  • Social Darwinism was another belief that made these practices seem acceptable 

    • Applied Darwin’s theory of evolution to economics- believed society was also a “survival of the fittest,” and the stronger companies would prevail over the weaker ones, bringing wealth to those “most fit”

• Carnegie’s Gospel of Wealth stated that those with wealth had a duty from God to invest their money back into society through philanthropy 

  • Carnegie Invested in building universities, libraries, etc

• These wealthy individuals were either referred to as one of 2 terms 

  • Captains of industry- which praises their practices 

  • Robber Barons- criticizes their mistreatment of others to obtain wealth

Unit 6 6.7- Labor in the Gilded Age

• Big Idea: Explain the socioeconomic continuities and changes associated with the growth of industrial capitalism from 1865-1898

• Dividing line drawn between rich and poor 

• Rich surpassed past generation in terms of wealth, and liked to put their wealth on display- conspicuous consumption

• Others lived in poverty, living well below standard of living 

• However, mass production made price of common items decrease and standard of living improved 

• Labor Unions 

  • Laborers in factories often found themselves working for low wages, but couldn’t ask for more because they would simply be fired and replaced 

  • Labor unions joined workers together to have their voices heard 

    • Great Railroad Strike 1877- RRs cut wages to save money, workers went on strike and shut down most of the RRs

    • Strike got so tense that violence broke out and Hayes sent out federal troops- over 100 people dead by the end 

    • Pullman Strike- when Panic of 1893 hit, Pullman cut wages of his workers- he fired labor union members when they came to ask for higher wages and rest of the workers went on strike

    • Union leader Eugene Debs directed his members to not work on any trains that had Pullman cars in them 

    • Pullman and RR owners came up with an idea to end the strike- they attached Pullman cars to trains carrying federal mail, so that way if unions messed with the trains, they would be in trouble with federal government 

    • Eugene Debs and others were jailed for interfering with rail traffic of federally authorized trains and the strike broke 

  • Influential labor unions 

    • Knights of Labor (started 1881)

      • Opened membership to anyone

      • Wanted to end trusts monopolies and child labor 

      • Fell apart after Haymarket Square riot since a bomb was set off, it was discovered it was set off by an anarchist but public associated the bomb with labor unions and saw them as violent and radical 

    • American Federation of Labor led by Samuel Gompers

Unit 6 6.8- Immigration and Migration in the Gilded Age 

• Big Idea: Explain how cultural and economic factors affected migration factors over time 

• Immigration in last part of 19th century inc 

  • Massive wave of immigrants- 16 million 

  • Many came from British Isles, Scandinavia, and Eastern Europe

  • Some came for religious freedom 

  • Others from Russia and the Balkans 

  • Many settled in industrial cities like Pittsburgh Chicago and NY- saw America as an opportunity to get jobs 

  • On west coast, Chinese were also immigrating 

• Immigration changed the cities they took as their homes 

  • Middle class and wealthy moved away from urban cities, so most cities were immigrants 

  • Crowded into tenements, which were poorly constructed and usually unhygienic

  • Immigrants from the same culture found solidarity amongst each other and established ethnic enclaves, together establishing some of their cultural institutions 

    • Irish immigrants built churches, Jews built synagogues 

• Migration 

  • Exodusters- mass migration of Southern blacks into the west, mainly Kansas (started late 1870s)

    • Result of Jim Crow laws and KKK

  • Programs like Colored Relief Board and Kansas Freedmen’s Aid Society helped them 

Unit 6 6.9- Responses to Immigration in the Gilded Age 

• Big Idea: Explain various responses to immigration in the period 1865-1898

• Many European and Asian immigrants took up work in factories where they were exposed to dangerous working conditions 

• Debates sprang up about what to do about these immigrants, fearing immigrants would change American culture

• Immigrants were also concerned with their culture- assimilate to American culture or hold onto their own? Many adopted a blend of the two 

• Nativists were very against immigrants 

  • Henry Cabot Lodge- argued that whites were committing “race suicide” by allowing intermingling with “inferior races”

  • Formed groups like American Protective Association against Catholics- Irish immigrants were Catholic

• Labor unions also disliked immigrants 

  • They feared that these incoming immigrants would thwart their attempts to negotiate higher wages because industry owners could just fire labor union members and replace them with immigrants who were willing to work for the lower wages 

• Believers in Social Darwinism also saw immigrants as inferior 

  • Believed that immigrants were racially inferior 

• In west, Chinese did a lot of work on the Transcontinental RR but still faced hostility 

  • When Panic of 1873 hit, economic troubles were blamed on Chinese

• Nativists ended up passing Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 which banned any further Chinese immigration 

• However, some help was provided for immigrants 

  • Jane Addams saw immigrants struggling and set up settlement houses like the Hull House (opened 1889) 

  • In settlement houses, immigrants were taught English and children were enrolled in education programs 

Unit 6 6.10- Development of the Middle Class

• During Gilded Age, large corporations changed their structure 

  • Divided into executives, managers, then laborers- managers made a new class of worker, white-collar workers 

  • Along with managers, many other jobs began that weren’t labor (accountants, legal services, healthcare), clerical workers 

    • Women especially took over clerical jobs 

    • Typewriter helped women earn wages, they also taught children in school

• Middle class had higher wages and a shorter working day, so they had more free time for entertainment 

  • Coney Island was build in NY- huge amusement park 

  • PT Barnum’s circus also gained popularity 

  • Baseball and football gained popularity 

• In upper class, philanthropy became popular 

  • Based on Carnegie’s Gospel of Wealth, wealthy should use their wealth to invest in society to help reduce distance between rich and poor 

  • Carnegie believed hard work was necessary for wealth- he wanted to create opportunities for the poor, not just hand out money

  • Another wealthy individual who followed these policies was Phoebe Apperson Hearst

Unit 6 6.11- Reform in the Gilded Age

• Big Idea: Explain how different reform movements responded to the rise of industrial capitalism in the Gilded Age 

• Laissez Faire capitalism- American government interfered very little in economic operations of business 

• This allowed wealth generated to stay in the hands of the elite upper class 

• Economist Henry George wanted a Single Tax on land because elites who owned large areas of land were getting too much wealth based on inc value of the land 

• Utopian Edward Bellamy 

  • Wrote novel “Looking Backward” where a man goes to sleep in 1887 and wakes up in 2000 where America was a socialist utopia and everyone’s needs were met

• Socialism gained traction during the time 

  • All means of production in a society should be owned and regulated by the community and benefit everyone equally 

  • Eugene Debs started Socialist Party of America and ran for president in 1901

    • Idea didn’t take firm hold and the party ended afterward 

• Others who opposed industrial capitalism believed the social gospel

  • Christian principles should be applied to curing ills of society 

• Big push for women’s suffrage 

  • Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B Anthony founded NAWSA

  • Women also took up temperance issue- formed Women’s Christian Temperance Union (1874) and fought for abstinence from alcohol

  • Anti saloon league also worked with them for laws against alcohol 

  • Carrie Nation was more “violent”- she went into bars with a hatchet and hacked at barrels of alcohol until it spilled on the floor 

Unit 6 6.12- Controversies Over the Role of Government in the Gilded Age 

• Industrialists and politicians that supported Laissez faire didn’t make it up- it had been around since 1776

• Problem was that in Gilded Age there was no competition because of consolidated power in big industries 

• Panic of 1893 Grover Cleveland didn’t do much to help people- many Americans had to go to breadlines to feed themselves 

• Wabash v Illinois it was determined state could not regulate RRs 

  • Gov made Interstate Commerce Commission to make sure states didn’t violate this but didn’t have good funding to actually do anything 

  • This was an ex of government being not too deeply involved 

• When gains for business and economy could be made, government DID get involved 

  • Supported overthrow of Hawaiian monarchy 

  • Open door policy with China and U.S.- equal trading rights in all ports of China 

• However, government didn’t get involved in REGULATING business 

Unit 6 6.13- Politics in the Gilded Age

• Because of the lack of government intervention, there was a lot of corruption 

• Main parties were the Republicans and the Democrats 

  • Democrats 

    • Mainly Southerners 

    • States rights and racial segregation 

    • Immigrants and votes from big city political machines

  • Republicans 

    • Mostly Northerners 

    • Industrial

    • Black people, middle class businessmen, Protestants 

• Neither party really had any strong agenda, so it was really just about getting someone elected and then awarding supporters of the winning party with federal jobs- practice known as patronage 

  • This had been done before by Jackson with the spoils system

  • This practice came under fire after President James Garfield was assassinated 

    • He refused to give a job to one of the men who had supported his campaign, and the man later shot him

• Congress passed Pendleton Act of 1881

  • Replaced patronage with competitive exam- more fair, highest scores for jobs 

• Funded changed to getting money from a few wealthy individuals so there was no financial “debt” to party supporters 

• Money supply at the time was based on the gold standard, so government only printed the amount of money that they could back by the gold in their vaults 

  • This helped stop inflation when prices rose, but farmers and entrepreneurs argued that the money supply should be expanded past the gold standard and later wanted unlimited coinage of silver 

    • They wanted this because more currency meant they could borrow more money with lower interest rates

    • They could also pay debts with inflated dollars 

• Tariffs were another issue parties fought over 

  • Protective tariffs from Civil War had remained in place after war ended- these helped industrial production, since it protected them from foreign competition, but hurt farmers because other nations put up tariffs on American goods so they had less market for their crops- also hurt consumers because they had to pay more 

• Populist party 

  • Wanted to help stop concentration of power help by elite banks and trusts 

  • Published their platform as Omaha Platform

    • Advocated for direct election of senators

    • Unlimited coinage of silver 

    • Use of initiatives and referendums which allowed people to propose and vote on legislation

    • Graduated income tax 

    • 8 hr work day

  • No populist candidate ever won an election, but gained a lot of attention

• By election of 1896 Democrats took up some themes of Populist party and got the populist vote 

• Urban political parties came under control of corrupt political machines 

  • They were groups who knew how to secure votes for their parties 

  • At the top of these machines were bosses, and if members were faithful to them, they were rewarded with jobs 

  • Ex. Tammany Hall run by Boss Tweed 

  • What it did- organized needs of poor and immigrants so everyone in community flourished 

    • This was to make these people in debt to them so they owed the machines their votes 

    • Political machines also stole money from taxpayers

    • Despite this, there was a degree of mutual benefit from political machines

UNIT 7- ?????

Unit 7 7.2- ?????

• Big Idea: 

UNIT 8- 1945-1980

Unit 8 8.2- The Cold War

• Big Idea: Explain the continuities and changes in Cold War policies from 1945-1980

• Soviet Union wasn’t happy that after WW1 US became the most powerful nation on earth- because it was a democracy and SU was communist

• The growing tension between the two eliminated the possibility of returned to normal life after the war

• Result- the Cold War 

  • A “Cold War” in general is a conflict between two belligerents in which neither side engages-directly- in open warfare with the other 

    • More a battle of ideologies 

• Causes 

  • Tensions between US and SU ever since Russian Revolution 1917, because U.S. didn’t like communism

  • Both capitalism/democracy and communism were both expansionist ideas- and both sides didn’t like when the other expanded 

  • Allies had agreed before WWII ended that when it did end, they would have central and Eastern European countries hold free elections

    • At the time everyone agreed, but later Joseph Stalin (leader of SU) kept his troops there and made them communist satellite states- made a buffer zone between SU and Germany

  • ****needs to be continued but I moved on *****

Unit 8 8.6- The Civil Rights Movement in the 1940s and 1950s

• Big Idea: Explain how and why the civil rights movements developed and expanded from 1945-1960

• Civil Rights activists wanted to put pressure on federal government to make good on promises from Civil war- like equal access to public places and voting rights 

• Truman issued Executive Order 9981- banned segregation in armed forces 

  • Not actually enforced until 2 yrs later with Korean War 

  • Reasoning- still needed to appease voters so couldn’t go too extreme in expanding black rights 

  • Idea had come from Committee on Civil Rights which Truman made in 1946- its job was to examine conditions of civil rights in American society and give recommendations for how to fix them 

• Committee on Civil Rights made many suggestions, most of which Truman and Congress worked to create 

  • Congress passed 24th amendment which banned poll tax

  • Brown v Board of Education- Overturned Plessy v Ferguson “separate but equal” doctrine and determined that separate facilities are inherently unequal- demanded racial integration in schools 

    • Some tried to avoid this- Southern Manifesto  expressed their argument that Supreme Court had overreached its power and in order to keep their rights some states shut down their schools rather than integrating them 

    • Orval Faubus (Arkansas Governor) called in state national guard to prevent black students from entering Little Rock High School- students became known as Little Rock Nine 

    • Pres Eisenhower send federal troops to protect the students 

• While there were some small gains, there was still resistance 

Unit 8 8.7- America as a World Power

• Big Idea: Explain the various military and diplomatic responses to the international developments of the U.S. during the Cold War

• After WWII, massive movement of decolonization- in 16th century European powers had colonized places, now these places were shaking off their European powers 

  • This set stage for US and SU to want to influence these new political and economic institutions as democratic or communist

  • Ex. Guatemala and Cuba

• More about Cuba 

  • Cuba had been a military dictatorship but Fidel Castro overthrew the government that had been working with US- Castro was a communist so US was upset since Cuba was so close to us 

  • Eisenhower agreed to train and arm a group of Cuban exiles to go back into Cuba and overthrow the Castro regime- this didn’t take place under Kenedy’s administration though

  • Bay of Pigs Invasion- quickly became a massive failure, invaders were quickly captured by Castro’s troops- troops had been under the impression Cuban citizens were against Castro as well but they weren’t 

  • Pushed Cuba further into Communist rule

  • More trouble with Cuba in 1963 Cuban Missile Crisis

    • U-2 spy plane found Soviet nuclear weapons stockpiled in Cuba, within reach of hitting U.S.

    • Crisis eventually averted because they agreed for U.S. to remove weapons from Turkey and SU would remove theirs from Cuba 

• US influence in Middle East

  • 1953 the CIA implemented a plot to overthrow Iran prime minister to put the Shah of Iran back in power- this was because the Iranian prime minister wanted to nationalize oil industry, taking more control over it 

    • US had become dependent on oil so it was upset 

    • The Shah had been very willing to take munitions and other compensation to bring oil to US 

• U.S. in Asia 

  • Vietnam had been a French colony, now decolonized- fought off the French, then Japanese, then French again 

  • Vietnam was divided along the 17th parallel until an election could be held 

    • North Vietnam- communist under Ho Chi Minh

    • South Vietnam- Democratic 

  • U.S. didn’t want communist influence to expand so Eisenhower provided a billion dollars in economic aid to the South Vietnamese to keep them economically stable 

    • He argued the domino theory- if SV fell to communism, every other “domino”/country in the area would fall too

    • Eisenhower also warned against the military industrial complex- growing relationship between industry being tied so close to military- the problem could develop that policy decisions about military interventions could be based on the interests of those in the industry, thus getting the U.S. involved in wars it shouldn’t be involved in because policy would be based off of economic interests rather than safety 

Unit 8 8.8- The Vietnam War

• Big Idea: Explain the causes and effects of the Vietnam War

• US was dedicated to containment of communism, which alongside the domino theory served as the basis for U.S. involvement in South Vietnam

• Kennedy took over after Eisenhower, and agreed with Eisenhower’s policies

  • He sent “military advisors” in South Vietnam, who weren’t there to fight but rather to support the Southern government 

• 1963 Kennedy assassinated, Lyndon B Johnson takes over as president

• Gulf of Tonkin incident- North Vietnamese supposedly fired at U.S. battleship in Gulf of Tonkin (part of military advisors) 

  • Johnson used this as justification for U.S. military involvement in the area and asked Congress for Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (which he was granted) - have president blank check to exercise whatever power was necessary to protect American interests in SV

  • NOT a declaration of war, but led to military engagements 

    • This allowed US military to get heavily involved in the area 

• By 1963 NV had sent 40,000 soldiers into SV

• Johnson’s Strategy was slow escalation- thought NV would easily be defeated with a little bit of effort- which wasn’t the case, they were far better at fighting that Johnson anticipated 

  • Led to increased numbers of US troops

    • This led to discontent among Americans- they didn’t see a concrete cause to be going to war for (unlike in WWII- very clear) and it want even an official war because Congress never declared war

    • Anti war protests erupted in U.S., especially because Johnson hit the full reality of the war from Americans- he kept acting like the war was almost won

    • However, with television, Americans could see the reality of the war and that they may even be losing the war, contrary to Johnson’s reports- credibility gap

• Tet Offensive was a massive surprise attack by the NV which caused heavy U.S. casualties 

  • Counterattacked and hurt Viet Cong even more

  • Johnson requested 200,000 more troops, but his advisors refused, which ended his involvement in the war 

• Nixon elected after, his goal was to reduce U.S. involvement in Vietnam without looking like U.S. was admitting defeat

  • His idea was Vietnamization- slowly remove American troops while still giving financial and weapon assistance to SV

Unit 8 8.9- Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society

• While Johnson was involved in Vietnam war, he was also active in reform efforts at home- which was collectively termed the Great Society 

  • It was essentially an extension of FDR’s New Deal 

• Great Society wanted to eliminate poverty by creating programs mirroring the limited welfare state made by the New Deal 

• Johnson had a Democratic Congressional Majority, so he could pass whatever programs he wanted to

• Some of his programs included:

  • Office of Economic Opportunity- implemented self help programs like literacy instruction and vocational training to impoverished Americans 

  • Medicare program- federally funded health insurance for people over 65

  • Medicaid- federally funded health insurance for poor

  • Abolished immigrant quotas 

• Since an increased amt of money was taken by the war, and poverty was a lot harder to end than Johnson anticipated, his programs were helpful but not as effective as he intended 

• Liberalism was seen in Great Society and also the Warren Court 

  • Supreme Court under Chief Justice Earl Warren made some liberal decisions

    • Gideon v Wainwright

      • If a person cannot afford an attorney in court, state must provide them one 

    • Griswold v Connecticut

      • Laws that forbade birth control were unconstitutional 

    • Engel v Vitale

      • School prayer deemed unconstitutional because of separation of church and state 

    • Baker v Carr

      • States must redraw legislative districts to be a more accurate representation of populations at the time

• Liberalism reached its high point in mid-60s with Great Society and Warren Court 

Unit 8 8.10- The African American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s

• Big Ideas: Explain how and why various groups responded to calls for the expansion of civil rights from 1960-1980, + explain the various ways in which the federal government responded to calls for the expansion of civil rights 

• The Civil Rights Movement had a few victories earlier on in the 1940s- however, there was resistance in South still 

• Civil Rights Movement continued into the 60s, with key events including 

  • Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955) - Public transportation was segregated by state law, but a black woman Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white customer- she was arrested which sparked a city-wide bus boycott for about a year. Eventually the policy of having black customers give up seats to whites was removed 

    • Martin Luther King Jr joined the boycott and became a prominent figure arguing for a nonviolent means of protest

    • To him Civil disobedience was the best way to go against corrupt laws 

  • Sit-in Movement 

    • Started by younger members of the movement, they would go to white-only counters in restaurants and demand service- usually resulting in arrest. Eventually many restaurants changed their policies

  • 1963- MLK Jr and SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) launched another campaign in Montgomery Alabama, gathering for peaceful protests

    • Public safety commissioner Bull Connor didn’t tolerate it though, he allowed city police to use high pressure fire hoses and police dogs to disperse crowds- used on adults and children in the Children’s Crusade 

    • As brutal violence against civil rights protestors was seen on TV, many felt sympathy for their cause which helped in passing legislation 

  • March on Washington (1963)

    • Over 200,000 civil rights activists gathered at Washington Monument and MLK delivered I Have a Dream speech- illustrated his dream for an equal society

• While these were all relatively peaceful, there were more militant approaches to gaining civil rights 

  • Malcolm X believed in black power and criticized King’s methods as too gentle to be successful 

    • Only way to equality is to counter white violence with black violence 

  • Black Panthers were militant groups that wanted to secure black rights through violence if necessary 

• Government responded with significant civil rights legislation 

  • Civil Rights Act (1964)

    • Discrimination on the basis of gender, race, or religion illegal

  • Voting Rights Act (1965)

    • Outlawed literacy tests and poll taxes in order to prohibit voting discrimination 

    • Fed Gov was also authorized to oversee voting in states with low black vote turnout 

• Supreme Court also had a few cases expanding civil rights 

  • Loving v VA- Outlawed state laws making interracial marriage illegal

• This era of Civil Rights Movement ended 1968 when MLK was assassinated 

• Movement continued afterwards still but different era

Unit 8 8.11- The Civil Rights Movement Expands

• Big Idea: Explain how and why various groups responded to calls for the expansion of civil rights from 1960-1980

• New era of civil rights- Latinos, American Indians, gay Americans, and Women

• Women’s Movement 

  • 19th century Seneca Falls and early 20th century women’s suffrage became a law- but still far from equal 

  • Cultural norms from 1950s taught women that a woman's place was in home and they were to make it a haven of rest for husband and take care of children 

  • Book by Betty Friedan “The Feminine Mystique” challenged this- showed that many women felt bored and imprisoned being stuck taking care of family’s needs over her own

    • Friedan argued that women DID want education and jobs, they just weren’t able to express this in public without facing ridicule 

    • Her book was very popular among women 

  • National Organization for Women (NOW) was formed (1966) with the help of Friedan- goal was to secure equal opportunity and pay for women in careers

  • Title IX (9) of the Educational Amendments of 1972-  banned discrimination based on gender in education and helped secure funding for women’s sports 

  • Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was ALMOST established- this amendment was going to be added to the Constitution since even though women had laws giving them rights, laws could be overturned 

    • Phyllis Schlafly fought hard against the ERA and was successful in stopping it 

    • Her program was STOP ERA- “STOP” stood for “stop taking our privileges”- she argued that certain benefits women enjoyed would be taken away if the amendment were ratified (ex exclusion from army draft)

    • Ultimately ERA fell short 3 states’ ratification and was not passed 

• Counterculture movement of the 60s

  • Part of it that included women was the Sexual Revolution 

    • Changed attitudes towards sexuality and sexual expression 

    • Birth control and antibiotics for STDs became normal

    • Roe v Wade in 1973- determined that states could not prohibit women from having abortions- based on women’s right to privacy

• Latino Movement 

  • Came to America to work in fields, but were paid meager wages 

  • Delores Huerta and Cesar Chavez created United Farm Workers (1962) to protect migrant workers

  • Staged nationwide grape boycott to pressure farmers to increase wages, which by 1970 was effective 

• American Indians 

  • American Indian Movement (AIM) founded 1968 to reclaim heritage and tribal traditions that were lost as well as help many Natives get out of poverty 

  • Occupation of Alcatraz- by 1960s it had been abandoned by the federal government, and by an earlier treaty, any abandoned land was returned to Natives 

    • Several lived there for 19 months, but federal government made it very difficult for Natives to live there, but was symbolic of their activism 

  • Self-Determination Act 1975 

    • Gave Natives greater control of their lands, education, and law enforcement 

• Gay Liberation Movement 

  • Raid on Stonewall Inn (1969)

    • Happened because it was illegal for people to be openly gay, and gay bars like Stonewall Inn were frequent gathering places for homosexuals, so police raided them 

    • Unlike other raids, a crowd gathered and started resisting the enforcement of unjust laws 

  • 1970s homosexuality changed from being a mental illness to a sexual orientation

Unit 8 8.12- Youth Culture of the 1960s

• Big Idea: Explain how and why opposition to existing policies and values developed and changed over the course of the 20th century 

• Youth conflict with Vietnam war 

  • 2 college organizations started in 1960s that had opposing viewpoints on US involvement in the war 

    • Young Americans for Freedom 

      • Goal was to support involvement in the war because it furthered containment of communism 

    • Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)

      • Released their beliefs in the Port Huron Statement- stressed participatory democracy and direct government action

      • Challenged belief that every effort must be made to stop communism

  • Kent State Massacre (1970)

    • Students were protesting escalation in Vietnam, during the protests some vandalism had occurred so national guard was sent to keep the peace 

    • National guard tried to disperse protestors, who refused and started throwing rocks at them- one National guard started firing at the crowd and others followed 

    • Aftermath- 4 students dead, 10 wounded

  • Counterculture Movement 

    • Featured rebellious clothing styles and experimenting with drugs in order to cast off societal norms- hippies 

    • Haight-Ashbury District- hippies gathered here in communal living  

    • Valued informality in clothing, manner, and music (Bob Dylan) 

    • Woodstock Music Festival (1969) had almost 400,000 people attend 

      • Musicians playing included Jimi Hendrix, Crosby Stills Nash and Young, and Joan Baez

    • Ended by 1970s

Unit 8 8.13- The Environment and Natural Resources 1968-1980

• Big Idea: Explain how and why policies related to the environment developed and changed from 1968-1980

• Oil was an important natural resource that US imported 

• Much of the oil came from nations in Middle East that had strained relations with U.S. 

• tension began when Israel became a nation- Arab nations in Middle East opposed it while U.S. was an ally of Israel

• Oil- producing Arab nations formed OPEC (Organization of petroleum exporting countries) in order to better control prices 

  • Dec oil exports to America and Inc prices on the oil they did export- which caused fuel prices to inc significantly- there was a shortage 

• This realization led to conversation about alternative energy sources

  • Nuclear energy seemed like a good alternative because it required uranium which was plentiful and didn’t emit greenhouse gases 

    • Three Mile Island 1979- a nuclear reactor melted partially and radioactive waste was released- the island had a big population around it, and while it was cleaned up and there was no evidence of harm left, it made people uneasy 

    • This and Nuclear meltdown at Chernobyl in SU made people fearful  

• While search for new energy source didn’t help nuclear energy cause much, it did further the environmental movement 

  • Rachel Carson’s 1962 book “Silent Spring” 

    • Explained how modern society was poisoning the earth with pesticides 

  • 1970- first Earth Day 

• Legislative Policy in Environmental Protection 

  • 1970- Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

    • Managed pollution control programs like pesticides

    • Oversaw regulation of industries that polluted

  • Clean Air Act 1963

Unit 8 8.14- American Society in Transition

• Recently liberalism had been the main force, but now starting with Nixon switched to conservatism 

• Ronald Reagan’s election in 1980 really started it, but there was conservative movements in 60s and 70s

• Conservatives were upset about legislation in the Great Society because they feared it would make people too reliant on the government and not willing to do their part in supporting themselves 

• Also disliked civil rights movements because most conservatives were white southerners 

• Changes to traditional women’s roles upset conservatives too 

• Ways conservatives expressed their discontent 

  • Young Americans for Freedom group made of conservative college students 

    • Helped in Barry Goldwater’s presidential campaign

    • He coined phrase “New Right” which referred to conservatives resisting liberalism who values religious values and were anti-egalitarian (they believed men and women had their designated spheres)

  • John Birch Society

    • Made of conservatives who opposed communism and wanted limited government- made many conspiracy theories about the government 

  • William F Buckley’s magazine “The National Review” was more moderate

    • He feared the conservative movement would be characterized by extremists like the John Birch society and denounced their conspiracies 

  • Religious Right

    • Large group of Christians who opposed liberal and progressive trends 

    • Extremely upset by Roe v Wade- helped Catholic and Protestant Christians unite on an issue they agreed upon

  • 1979- pastor Jerry Falwell founded moral majority which melded Christianity with conservative politics 

    • Held “I Love America” rallies, which went against church and state

    • He argued this separation was what caused the problem around them

  • James Dobson’s Focus on the Family radio program 

    • Less political but argued for resistance of gay rights and bringing back prayer in schools 

• Significant national events 

  • Economic turmoil- stagflation 

    • Inflation combined with economic stagnation 

    • Nixon tried to cut federal spending, but that didn’t help the problem 

  • Watergate further ruined trust in government to help the people

    • Nixon was involved in trying to break into the Democratic Party’s headquarters, attempted to bug phones and steal documents 

    • He denied it, but it became obvious that he had known about the scandal and tried to cover it up and lied about it on many occasions

  • Equal Rights Amendment 

    • Phyllis Schafly and other conservatives were against it and stopped its ratification 

  • Affirmative action 

    • This was from the civil rights movement, some jobs had requirements to consider race when hiring people so there would be a certain number of people of different races and ethnicities 

    • Conservatives were against it 

      • Student Alan Bakke was denied admission to University of CA- he argued he was being discriminated against because he was white 

      • Court ruled that minority quotas were unconstitutional

      • This meant that race could still be a factor considered in hiring, but not the only determining factor